Since 1973, Cumberland Advisors has been a trusted source for market expertise, personal service, and individual and institutional money management. We are an independent, fee-for-service money management firm managing over $3 billion in assets.
As David Kotok noted in his description of the intellectual discussions that occurred at Camp Kotok in Grand Lake Stream, Maine, one of the topics was so-called Modern Monetary Theory, or MMT.[1] There were four panelists, who were asked to take different sides for the sake of argument, representing positions from the most favorable to […]
Legislation has recently been introduced to require the Federal Reserve to develop a real-time payments system to compete with existing systems. Interestingly, a short time after the introduction of the legislation, the Federal Reserve announced its intention to proceed with plans to develop just such a system. In describing the intent behind the legislation, co-sponsor […]
Bob Eisenbeis, Vice Chairman and Chief Monetary Economist at Cumberland Advisors, and Former Director of Research at the Atlanta Fed, on the April 2019 FOMC meeting and markets.
Bob Eisenbeis, Vice Chairman and Chief Monetary Economist at Cumberland Advisors, and Former Director of Research at the Atlanta Fed, on the April 2019 FOMC meeting and markets.
The FOMC decided to throw a pass by cutting rates; but given the market’s response, it looks like they were tackled for a loss. In Woody Hayes’ parlance, the one positive of a forward pass turned into a negative. Powell attempted to offer three justifications for the policy move: to insure against downside risks, to […]
In our previous discussion of the three options facing the FOMC – raise the funds-rate target, hold the rate steady, or cut the target rate – we argued that there were risks and potentially negative consequences associated with each. The first option would shock markets and raise questions about the Committee’s rationale, regardless of what […]
Congressional hearings this past week were the first of what are likely to be a number of investigations into Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency and associated Calibra wallet. The initial reactions of legislators at the hearings ranged from a desire to support and encourage financial innovation to downright skepticism and hostility. Some of the questioners asked […]
We received several comments from readers concerning some of the key points in our recent commentary “Clams or Gold.”[1] Below is an abbreviated version of the questions, to which responses are then supplied. Comment: You may have seriously misled readers because both the purity of the official gold bullion and measurement of ounces have remained […]
Ohio State’s Woody Hayes used to say that his problem with the forward pass was that “Three things can happen, and two of them are bad.” Well, after Chairman Powell’s testimony last week, the FOMC may find itself in a similar position, only maybe worse. The Committee can do three things – lower rates, keep […]
Johnny Hart, the creator of the comic strip BC, created an economy in which clams served as currency. Clams were plentiful, so no one ran out of currency, except that an occasional clam had cartoon legs and opted for a different career. A currency in the form of a good is of course nothing new […]
