Do you remember the Prisoner’s Dilemma?

Here is a simplistic version of the game played every day in the global trade arena. Each country chooses to either be cooperative (C) or uncooperative (U). Below are some illustrative payouts: C:C -> $100:$100 C:U -> $30:$130 U:C -> $130:$30 U:U ->...

Common sense QT tapering

A little more than a week has passed since Jay decided to slip on a red jersey and distance himself from that politically charged 50bps rate cut just before the election. His dovish messaging was crystal clear. And the near complete shutdown of Treasury QT put dovish...

A 12-step program for fiscaholics

Before proposing a 12-step recovery journey for countries struggling with fiscal policy addiction issues, I have two housekeeping issues and a quick FOMC thought to share: I want to apologize for the technical problems with last Thursday's macro zoom. It was...

Time for a macro zoom

Impending cuts in both federal spending and employment have added uncertainty to the economic outlook. While gains in government efficiency are generally seen as beneficial, if the transition takes place too quickly, there may be some unpleasant side effects from a...

The beautiful but bumpy road to reprivatization

The term reprivatization has entered into Trump policy lexicon courtesy of our new Treasury Secretary. To be sure, it is an excellent choice of vocabulary when describing the process of moving resources out of a less efficient, kakistocratic public sector into a more...