Coelacanth

Market Predictions: 'Crazy' About the Dollar

Hey Paul,

You bring up some great points.

I could be mistaken but I thought the increase in minimum wage was going to get phased in over time. Plausibly this could mitigate wage pressures in the near term keeping us out of a wage-price spiral situation.

I agree with you about the auction rate securities mess. Pretty daunting. I think most companies are working hard to re-imburse investors though and it appears the Fed is going to keep lending to commercial banks for some time to come.

My sense about the negative effect a strengthening USD would have on American exports is would have to appreciate much, much further for that effect to be truly palpable. The flip side is a stronger dollar will help to tamp down domestic inflation and gives Americans more purchasing power. We'll see.