Deceleration was still in place, according to the WEI.
“So China is now paying us billions of dollars in tariffs”
That’s economist Trump in 2018, as cited in Coy (2018). Now, from USITC “Economic Impact of Section 232 and 301 Tariffs on U.S. Industries” (page 22), a conflicting assessment.
The Commission’s econometric model estimates that tariffs under sections 232 and 301 resulted in a nearly one-to-one increase in prices of U.S. imports following the tariffs. This implies that a 10 percent ad valorem tariff raised the price of U.S. imports from China by about 10 percent. This nearly complete pass-through (meaning that prices received by exporters were largely unaffected and prices paid by U.S. importers increased by the same amount as the tariffs) is unusual but has been similarly found by other recent studies, which conclude that U.S. importers have borne almost the full burden of section 301 tariffs.
Back in the Real Economy: Business Cycle Indicators, Mid-March
With industrial production for February (0% m/m vs +0.2% Bloomberg consensus), we have the following picture of key indicators followed by the NBER BCDC, plus S&P Market Intelligence monthly GDP.
Oil Futures
Near month, over past two years:
For PubAffr819: What Not to Say as a Policy Analyst
(1) do not make absolutist statements without knowing the nature of the data; (2) Do not abuse statistical terminology; (3) do not assert a conspiracy is in place just because the data do not conform to your preferred narrative.
Banking Turmoil: Deregulation vs. Monetary Profligacy (vs. Unanticipated Events)
I keep on hearing this refrain from people like former senator Toomey (on Bloomberg TV today) that the 2018 deregulation had nothing to do with SVB’s travails; rather its problems (presumably also Credit Suisse’s too) was due to monetary and fiscal profligacy. I thought it would be useful to recap the path of expected interest rates.
Yields, Spreads, and Uncertainty/Risk
Term spreads rising slightly, yields (nominal, real) down, and risk measures up.
Implied Fed funds Peak – from September to May
Using CME futures, from 1:30CT today:
Month-on-Month Core PPI at 0%
Undershoots consensus at 0.4%. M/M headline at -0.1 vs 0.3%.
Spreads and Uncertainty/Risk Measures Post-SVB, Post-CPI Release
Five year Treasury-TIPS breakeven rises. EPU up on 13th, VIX down (but still elevated) today. 10yr-3mo spread remains very negative.