What we’re reading (3/18)
“St. Louis Fed’s Bullard Says The Central Bank Should Raise Rates Above 3% This Year” (CNBC). “St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday he thinks the central bank should raise interest rates the equivalent of 12 times this year to convince the public it is serious about fighting inflation. As the lone dissenter at this week’s Federal Reserve meeting, Bullard said in a statement that he would like to see the central bank’s benchmark interest rate boosted above 3% from the near-0% level where it had stood.”
“Wall Street Is Starting To Tune Out Ukraine” (CNN Business). “The S&P 500 surged 6% this week, its best weekly performance since November 2020. What? That's right. US stocks had a banner performance even as war raged on in Ukraine, Russia teetered on the brink of default and the Fed hiked rates for the first time since 2018.”
“Inside The Nickel Market Failure: Massive Trades The Exchange Didn’t See” (Wall Street Journal). “The war in Ukraine broke the nickel market. The risks had been building for years. Banks and brokers lent heavily to producers and speculators eager to take a position on the humble metal, a key ingredient in stainless steel and electric-vehicle batteries. The exchange in London where metals have traded for 145 years failed to see the mounting danger.”
“Against Credentialism” (Marginal Revolution). “On average, more education probably does correlate with better job performance — but there are a lot of exceptions. If U.S. society wants to boost opportunity for everyone, it needs to work harder to spot those exceptions and act on that knowledge. In a world where so much information and so many diverse forms of certification are available, there are far better ways to assess a candidate than asking the binary question of whether they have a four-year degree.”
“No, Cryptocurrencies Shouldn’t Be Added To 401(k) Plans” (Washington Post). “The Labor Department essentially just warned the managers of workplace retirement plans: Don’t you dare think about adding cryptocurrency — it’s too risky. The department’s directive follows President Biden’s executive order this month calling for a review of the government’s regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies. Biden’s order talks about the volatility of cryptocurrency, but it also signals an acceptance of the viability of digital currencies and a lot of concern that it could lead retirement plans to prematurely embrace the investment as an option for employees.”
