From the NY Times:
Fed Predicts Modest Economic Growth From Tax Cut
The Federal Reserve, buoyed by a steadily strengthening economy, raised interest rates on Wednesday for a fifth time since the financial crisis and predicted that a proposed tax cut moving through Congress would modestly increase economic growth for the next few years without stoking inflation.
As a result, the Fed said it did not expect the legislation, which President Trump has called “rocket fuel” for the economy, to accelerate the Fed’s plans to raise interest rates in 2018 and indicated it remains on track for three rate increases next year.
The Fed’s highly anticipated economic assessment, delivered after a two-day meeting of its policymaking committee, amounted to a lukewarm endorsement of the Trump administration’s top economic priority. Mr. Trump has suggested that the $1.5 trillion tax cut could nearly double economic growth to as much as 6 percent, a level far greater than most economists think likely.
“My colleagues and I are in line with the general expectation among most economists,” said Janet L. Yellen, the Fed’s chairwoman. She said they expected the bill to provide “a modest lift.”
Ms. Yellen spoke at a news conference after the Fed announced a widely expected decision to increase its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to a range of 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent. The increase continues the Fed’s gradual march toward higher rates, which were cut to near-zero during the financial crisis. Wednesday’s increase is the third time this year that the Fed has raised rates, reflecting its confidence that the economy is in good health.
The Fed and Congress are moving in opposite directions. The Fed, in raising rates, is reducing the support it has provided to the economy since the financial crisis. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, are preparing a $1.5 trillion tax cut for businesses and individuals with the aim of stimulating economic growth.
Some Fed officials, including Ms. Yellen, cautioned earlier this year that tax cuts could push the pace of growth to an unsustainable level, resulting in higher inflation, and that the Fed might respond by raising interest rates more quickly, to restrain growth and keep a lid on inflation.
After seeing the details of the tax plan, however, Fed officials have concluded that there is no need to raise rates more quickly. A quarterly update of the Fed’s economic forecast showed that officials still expect to raise rates three times next year — unchanged from the last economic forecast.
“We continue to think that a gradual path of rate increases remains appropriate even with almost all participants factoring in their assessment of the tax policy,” Ms. Yellen said on Wednesday.
In part, the Fed has concluded the tax plan doesn’t pack a large punch. Fed officials predicted that the economy would grow at a 2.5 percent pace next year; the previous forecast was 2.1 percent.
President Trump has predicted that the tax plan could deliver 4 percent growth or more.
Apprised of those comments by a reporter, Ms. Yellen responded: “I wouldn’t want to rule anything out. It is challenging, however, to achieve growth of the levels that you mentioned.”
Trump Vs. Everything
Conspiracy….maybe this tax plan was put in place as a means of allowing the fed to raise rates without doing much harm to the economy?
When Yellen said that inverting the yield curve:
1. May precede a recession, but doesn’t cause one
2. Inverting the yield curve might not even matter because term premium was so low
It sounded to me like she was saying, “Seeeeee Ya! Wouldn’t want to beeeee Ya!”
I guess reading between the lines, dead husband == happy wife?
Women are more miserable than men for almost their entire lives and are happier only after the age of 85, according to a large NHS survey.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/women-more-unhappy-than-men-until-they-reach-mid-80s-j868mxzkv
@JoeConchaTV
CBS report on the biggest story of the day:
“[Omarosa] went so far as to appeal to Ivanka Trump … to ask to keep her job.
When she did not get the answer she wanted, she tried to enter the WH residence, at which point she tripped security alarms & was later escorted out.”
Puzzy N Boots,
You’re hilarious. You make my day. You’re like the worst tabloid stuff available.
According to very early network TV (ABC?):
1. Omarosa’s salary was $180K
2. She didn’t get along with staffers
3. Nobody was sure what she did or was supposed to do.
4. And get this: She brought her entire Wedding Parting to the WH unannounced to take pictures.
“[Omarosa] went so far as to appeal to Ivanka Trump … to ask to keep her job.
When she did not get the answer she wanted, she tried to enter the WH residence, at which point she tripped security alarms & was later escorted out.”
Wedding Party
@THR
Secret Service: “Reporting regarding Secret Service personnel physically removing Omarosa is incorrect—Our only involvement in this matter was to deactivate the individual’s pass which grants access”
THR? Is this now what passes for real liberal news?
Trump drank a diet coke today, news story at 11…
The market is down today. Someone tweet something to the president please! There’s still an hour.
Anyone still want to buy bitcoin?
Bitcoin’s insane power consumption, explained.
“The skyrocketing value of Bitcoin is leading to soaring energy consumption. According to one widely cited website that tracks the subject, the Bitcoin network is consuming power at an annual rate of 32TWh—about as much as Denmark. By the site’s calculations, each Bitcoin transaction consumes 250kWh, enough to power homes for nine days. ”
Full story below
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/bitcoins-insane-energy-consumption-explained/
re: Omarosa
Never stick it in crazy…
the proof of work is the big issue with bitcoin and it’s elk and is only necessary to be truly decentralized(i.e no central party or group of parties controls the ledger). The entrenched interests don’t need it, a private network can be setup to work without the proof of work, a centralized authority basically designates who approves blocks, there is a hash check on all the distributed copies of the ledger and it is committed if there is consensus. Governments and banks should be very afraid of the bitcoin concept as it could really turn commerce on it’s head if it ever was really accepted by market participants.
re: “no central party”
Yeah? More like the CCP controls bitcoin mining. Good luck getting your money out of Inner Mongolia…
The Chinese are the bitcoin kingpins…
“Jihan Wu, the CEO of Bitmain, claims that 70 percent of the Bitcoin mining rigs in operation today were made by his company. And, according to a study conducted last winter by the University of Cambridge, in England, it’s likely that most of those machines are plugged into an outlet somewhere in China. ”
Here is where the magic happens…..
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/why-the-biggest-bitcoin-mines-are-in-china
Yes, so no fed, but let’s buy into something that is basically controlled by the Chinese
Lol…what characters. So they claim that they aren’t going to throttle the website speeds, but then why are you spending so much to lobby for the ability to adjust speeds?
Won’t use it, but just want the ability to do so….lmao
“Can service providers like Comcast and Verizon slow down video streaming?
The largest ISPs say they have no plans to throttle website speeds. But they have before.
In 2008, the FCC ruled that Comcast had slowed access to BitTorrent because the peer-to-peer downloading site had “become a competitive threat to cable operators.” Comcast sued and had the order overturned, but the event created the impetus for the drafting of net-neutrality rules to prevent throttling.”
People talk all this sh!t about bitcoin, how it’s absent of a central authority and it’s basically controlled by the Chinese. Can I go puke now.
As young as it is, the blockchain fully analyzed probably has more criminal evidence than all banking records for centuries.
Pumps – Beijing announced that public bitcoin exchanges would be shut down in China. Even they know it is a scam.
Here is the latest from MIT.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609320/can-china-contain-bitcoin/
Juice the chinese are smart enough to know that the decentralized anonymous nature of bitcoin makes it a great tool to criminals and more important to them subversive elements. That’s what this is about, moving money in and out of china. China having cheap power and the semiconductor manufacturing capability to be the leading producer of ASIC for bitcoin is just a reality of where the capability lies and that running a business in china is cheaper than elsewhere.
Juice – I learned that one a long time ago. Especially don’t stick it in crazy when crazy’s father is “well connected”.
Never stick it in crazy…
That would be as stupid as investing in Pancake in a Can.
OTOH, NHMD is working on new technology where the can move in and out of a standard pet door, use bluetooth to access a driverless car and go to a pancake batter refilling station and return home by itself. NHMD is calling it The Internet of Pancake in a Can
Yes, so no fed, but let’s buy into something that is basically controlled by the Chinese
edit: should be can can, not can. That made me laugh. Out loud. OK, I was really thinking about the market value 12 months from now of Pumps family estate.
Hey idiot – what did I tell you about keeping family conversations private?
As young as it is, the blockchain fully analyzed probably has more criminal evidence than all banking records for centuries.
Bitcoin will get taken down by a firmware payload in a thumb drive.
Bitcoin is nonsense, get ready to be schooled.
Prediction for the next 5 years.
Neighborhood wireless mesh networking will become the hottest area of networking growth as neighborhoods band together to gain direct access to the internet, completely bypassing traditional ISPs.
Cable companies begin to realize they are poised to fail, without monopolistic control of access to the internet, or control of content, they have absolutely zero value proposition.
That why net neutrality is shite. ISP’s are fcuked anyway and they spent on the time and effort to establish rights of way and to put the fiber in place. WiFi stopped it all dead in its tracks. Now comes bandwidth hogs (understatement of the year) destroying the service so Reed Hastings can become a multi-billionaire…….such a evil bit of stealing masquerading as justice for all…….. truly vile…….
grim says:
December 14, 2017 at 8:01 pm
Prediction for the next 5 years.
Neighborhood wireless mesh networking will become the hottest area of networking growth as neighborhoods band together to gain direct access to the internet, completely bypassing traditional ISPs.
How does that work?
grim says:
December 14, 2017 at 8:01 pm
Prediction for the next 5 years.
Neighborhood wireless mesh networking will become the hottest area of networking growth as neighborhoods band together to gain direct access to the internet, completely bypassing traditional ISPs.
I have no clue Joyce, but I would bet it would be like a group of households wired Peer-to-Peer who all chip in to pay for the one fast connection to the internets backbone. Now who owns the backbone? A whole bunch of other peer to peer households? Really, connect them all together and you have your own internet (sort of). Then charge Amazon to sell to you. :P