View From the Window Seat
I like to look out and see what the world has to offer, always have, what is above or below me or across. From high above without being ale to discern very much to stormy weather obscuring any view to absolute sunny clarity. I’ve had the good fortune to fly over 5 million miles, an apartment overlooking the Statue of Liberty where both sets of my grandparents arrived; swim around Manhattan; and in an infinity pool overlooking Hong Kong Harbor.
I’ve elected to after quite a lull in writing to start a new series of short, “what’s-on-my-mind” essays about whatever is ratting around at this point in time. Any topic is fair game. It’s what I feel strongly enough about to commit to “paper.”
I’ve always loved to write but felt constrained by length. Specifically, if it wasn’t thought out fully, it’s not “good” enough. But I will attempt to defeat that long-held conviction.
So, here it goes….
Les jeux sont fait. (A favorite book I read in French at Unions College, my undergraduate alma mater, which led me to going to live in France as a student.
The Fed
Sunday Dec 13, 2015
What we have here, is a FAILURE to communicate
The more things change, the more they seem the same.
Déjà vu all over again
Death by a 1000 (or 10,000 or 100,000) cuts
Will she or won’t she
We’ve seen this play before
Etc, etc, etc
While I love quotes and often use them, I’m exhausted – and so is most of the world – with the ongoing debate — debacle really – over whenever we will have an increase in rates.
While this note will not debate whether the Fed should or should not, my brief focus here is on the absolutely miserable job the Fed has done with what was supposed to be a hallmark post-Greenpsan, specifically that they would communicate better.
And they would be “data dependent.” Well neither seems to have truly occurred and a result of waiting a very, very long time, the Fed has painted itself into a corner. Raise rates this week which is what most of the world expects despite a hissy fit of volatility last week and we may have a sell-off (buy on the rumor, sell on the news) or if she does not, even more of a sell-off – what’s spooking the Fed now! Perhaps the market will calm if she actually does raise rates.
She, the Fed and most likely the rest of the world has and will pay in the future as a result of not doing what certainly could have been done this past September or last for that matter. It’s only 25 basis points, but a new world. Perhaps a path to normalcy? If allowed….
Can the economy survive even thrive on its own without her highly accommodative policy or is the Fed’s bag-of-tricks so truly potent after all?
Only the Shadow knows!
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the Swiss-based governing body for football what we in the US call soccer. It responsible for organizing and profiting from the World Cup and managing the sport globally. We have begun to see as a result of US and Swiss investigations into how inherently corrupt an organization it is and has likely been for a very long time. At this writing, 41 officials and organizations have been charged with corruption across the globe connected with $200 million in bribes and kickback schemes tied to marketing of major tournaments and matches. The two upcoming World Cup competitions in Russia and 2018 and Qatar in 2022 have long been alleged to been rigged.
The President, Sepp Blatter, who is currently serving a 90-day ban for another perhaps related, perhaps not, claims total ignorance of any untoward behavior. A President/CEO of a public or private company would have been relieved due to gross negligence and incompetence. As it stands barring any further findings or legal actions, he may return after this ban to his position and will cede it in February when a new President is elected. The current acting President was previously disciplined in 2011 by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in an alleged bribery scandal
Given the breadth and depth of corruption, I would hope — and we may see — FIFA being disbanded and reorganized with appropriate transparency and controls.