A Very Somber Message from Chairman Powell
Fed Chairman Powell spoke last week on-line and he was pessimistic about our economy to say the least. Here are some his highlights-
- The path ahead is highly uncertain.
- He sees significant downside risk
- A prolonged recession and possible weak recovery if they don't get relief correct.
- Additional relief may be needed
- Liquidity problems could turn into solvency problems.
- Pandemic raises longer-term concerns
- The Fed will use all of its tools; but not negative interest rates.
- 40% of households making $40k or less lost their jobs in March.
I can't say I disagree with his comments. How do you "deal" with an issue or problem that hasn't occurred in 100 years since the Spanish Flu? One solution I would love to see is the re-training of millions of service-sector workers from restaurants, bars, retail, and hospitality into manufacturing as we have discovered that China is manufacturing too many products that we desperately need. Plus I would love to see people re-trained into home construction, remodeling, and repairs as well as we have a huge growing shortage of tradespeople.