Hike Or Hold? Debating The Coming Fed Decision

Trump's "Sock Puppet" By Philip Marey of Rabobank Summary The confirmation hearing of Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh by the Senate Banking Committee was a very partisan affair. In his prepared remarks, Warsh stressed that monetary policy independence is essential, but he does not believe that the operational independence of monetary policy is particularly threatened when elected officials state their views on interest rates. Warsh thinks the Fed must stay in its lane and avoid straying into fiscal and social policies. Warsh was walking a tightrope between convincing the Senate Banking Committee that he...

The Lebanon “pilot zones” project finally got underway last week, following substantial delays and multiple rounds of negotiations. The Lebanese Army now says their deployment into those villages, as required by the deal, is being prevented by Israeli violations of the ceasefire. The pilot zones were meant to be symbolic, token pullouts from Israel after […]

US Navy Destroyer Suffered 4-Day Power Outage In Sweltering South China Sea Large US naval battleships continue to suffer problems at sea. While there have been many headlines of late detailing the problems of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier connected to its extended deployment amid the Iran war, a separate warship is having serious problems in Pacific waters, quite apart from the crisis in the Persian Gulf. "A US Navy guided-missile destroyer spent four days last month without working toilets, galley services and air conditioning in the blistering heat of the...