Recent Updates
- Taiwan: Manufacturing PMI, Non-manufacturing PMI (Feb)
- China: Foreign Reserves (Feb)
- US: Employment Situation (Feb), Intl Trade (Jan)
- US: Establishment Survey Detail (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Declines in January
Consumers reduced credit balances further in January...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $68.2 Billion in January
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $68.2 billion in January...
German Order Growth Gets Back in Gear Despite the Headwinds
German order growth is back in gear with total orders rising by 1.4% m/m in January...
U.S. Factory Orders & Shipments Rise Again in January
Manufacturing activity is strengthening. Factory orders rose 2.6% (2.8% y/y) in January...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller December 27, 2005
At 4.40%, current yields on 10 Year Treasury securities for the most part match the yields on the 2 Year. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, and many economists, have indicated that the yield curve's ability to signal changes in economic conditions has slackened as financial markets have broadened and become more complex.
Narrow Money, Broad Money, and the Transmission of Monetary Policy from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is available here.
In the past the move of toward parity, let alone inversion, of the 10-2 Year spread has preceded recessions in the U.S. Without fail it has signaled a marked slowing of liquidity and recently the growth in the monetary base has slowed to 3% from 9% in 2002.
The slowing reflects the effects of higher interest rates on consumers' inclination to borrow and spend as well as banks' inclination to lend.
Certainly, the U.S. economy is "awash in cash." But in a twelve trillion dollar economy such as the U.S., growth is determined at the margin.