Maxwell Qian

During the 1970s, the United States suffered from double-digit inflation, rising unemployment, and bleak economic prospects.  Declining domestic industry and increasing global competition sowed the seeds of doubt in American minds and the OPEC oil embargo shook the economy to its core.  The crisis culminated in a period of stagflation, a stagnant economy ill with both high unemployment and inflation.  Monetary policy and the Federal Reserve had failed in both of their mandates: full employment and price stability.  The global monetary order created by the Bretton-Woods agreement collapsed and the US found itself forced to detach the dollar from the…

Since January 2012, the Federal Reserve has maintained a target of 2 percent inflation for the US economy.  The target allows the Fed to perform its congressionally mandated jobs of maintaining price stability and maximum employment.  Before the 1970s, economists believed inflation and unemployment had a permanent negative correlation so that low inflation and low unemployment could not be achieved at the same time.   However, the 1970s oil shock brought on a period of high inflation and unemployment known as stagflation.  With the high rates of the 1970s, the Fed needed a new way to control inflation.  At the time,…

As part of the historic 2nd quarter contraction in the US gross domestic product, investment spending decreased by a massive 49% under the duress precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Poor general economic conditions translated to uncertainty in the minds of investors.  Meanwhile, investors received government relief aid that they did not use to invest.  As a result, there is now an estimated $1.5 trillion in unused capital in private equity funds alone that could be invested as soon as negative economic conditions recede. This massive glut of capital could create an explosion of investment and is therefore referred to as…

On June 4, 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced it would increase its envelope of asset purchases by €600 billion to a total of €1.35 trillion. The increased purchases will further the central bank's policy of monetary easing in order to help households and businesses deal with the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase comes in response to disinflation and fears of a possible deflationary spiral. The ECB plans to continue asset purchases until it believes the coronavirus crisis is over and plans to reinvest any payments from maturing assets into further purchases. European interest rates will…