A “Data Heavy” Week: Lots of new numbers from Q!…significant slowing (but still growing GDP)…mixed signals….strong new home sales…wages on a tear…inflation flat…but a warning that interest rates may rise later in the year. ITR’s Brian Beaulieu think unpacks the economic luggage for you in this week’s FedWatch.
More on GDP: If you want a deeper dive on the surprising pullback in Q1 GDP, economist Brian Wesbury offers a concise one-page analysis. Usually, the slowing economy would be good news for a Federal Reserve fighting inflation, but Dr. Wesbury looks under the hood of the GDP Report and thinks a few elements of the GDP number tell a different story. His analysis of 1st Quarter GDP is worth a read.
Leveraged Sheepskins: We’ve heard much about student debt in recent years, especially the president’s attempts to defer and forgive amounts due. Most Americans don’t’ realize how big this number is: $ 1.73 trillion (with a “t”) with 40 million unique borrowers, second only to mortgages in the largest categories of consumer debt. The Supreme Court struct down the president’s attempt to forgive this debt, but other avenues are being pursued. In his weekly “Three on Thursday” post, Brian Wesbury provides an excellent one page primer on student loans… a matter that is far from resolved and too large to ignore.
