Best Blogs of the Week #260
Quality posts this week, led by a captivating post comparing this administration to the start of Reagan’s.
Franklin Templeton – The Sectors Most Likely to Cheer US Tax Reform – It’s always tough to gauge the impact of policy shifts in isolation. However, we think broad tax reform combined with other fiscal stimulus measures, such as infrastructure spending and repatriation of foreign profits, could be very effective (at least in the short term) in providing a boost or acceleration in gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the next several years.
Mainstay – Reagan vs Trump: Parallels, Implications, and Results – In 1981, U.S. inflation was just starting to decline from peak levels near 15%, as the Fed lifted rates above 20% to choke off inflation. An elevated unemployment rate in 1981, at 7.8%, with baby boomers still entering the workforce, meant there was considerable scope for workers to return to or enter the job market, once inflation was arrested and broader economic conditions improved. It also meant there was pent-up demand for credit. By contrast, inflation is now inching up from below 2%
Principal – Questions around financial regulation changes – For all of the fighting around Dodd-Frank, it’s one of the primary reasons the U.S. banking sector was able to right itself so quickly after the 2008 financial crisis.
via Mainstay