A former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, William McChesney Martin, once famously described the role of the American central bank as “taking away the punch bowl just when the party was really warming up”.
Later today the process of cooling down president Donald Trump’s exuberant party will begin when Janet Yellen, the Fed chairwoman, raises its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point. It is only its third rate increase in 10 years but, more significantly, its second in three months, and Mrs Yellen is expected to signal that two more rate increases are on the way this year.
Just a month ago, a rate increase in March was reckoned as 40 per cent likely. Today it is virtually 100 per cent. In his first few weeks in the White House, Mr Trump painted a dire picture of economic stagnation and industrial decline, using some of the bleakest language ever used by a US president. Now, suddenly, instead of trying to prod a sluggish and inefficient monster into action, he faces the prospect of an economy that is in danger of overheating.
It is yet another surprise in this astonishing period of poor economic forecasting and political miscalculation. But it is a nice one for a change. The US economy is in good shape, even if Mr Trump has not quite got around to accepting that so early into his presidency – that would be to give president Obama, on whose watch it all started, too much credit.
Today’s move by the Fed shows how different the economic views of the Fed and the White House now are. The Fed believes the latest spurt of growth is unsustainable and should be reined in before inflation gets out of control. Mr Trump, on the other hand, wants to whip things along even faster by introducing his policy trifecta of tax reform, infrastructure blitz and deregulation, aiming for a growth rate of between 4 and 5 per cent, which has not been achieved since president Reagan’s time.
The blockbuster monthly jobs figures announced last Friday are only the latest batch of data that illustrates how strong growth is. The unemployment rate has dipped below 5 per cent, which my economics professors taught me was full employment. But jobs have continued to be created at an average of 215,000 jobs a month – more than twice the job growth necessary to keep pace with population growth.
There are reports of a tighter labour market, particularly in construction and building. In Texas, residential construction employment has reached levels not touched since before the 2008 financial crisis. Hourly earnings climbed by 20.3 per cent in the Texas construction sector between 2011 and 2016, and the National Association of Homebuilders says that 82 per cent of builders now regard the cost and availability of labour as their primary concern.
All across America, adults who gave up on finding jobs are returning to work, stock markets are booming, and all the measures of consumer and business confidence are remarkably buoyant. The US expansion is sturdier and more broadly based than it has been for a decade.
That is all good stuff for Mr Trump and the White House. But Fed officials now seem to believe that the US economy is already nearing its full economic potential and it should begin, sooner rather than later, to slip that punch-bowl out of sight.
The trick now is to get the right balance between fiscal and monetary policy so that growth keeps going but inflation stays under control. That actually may already be happening: several senior Fed officials have recently made public comments suggesting their growing confidence – and unanimity – that the economy can handle tighter money, the first time that has been heard since the financial crisis about a decade ago.
“Recent developments suggest that the macroeconomy may be at a transition,” said Lael Brainard, a senior Fed governor and a famous dove on interest rates. “Full employment is within reach, there are signs of progress on our inflation mandate, and a favourable shift in the balance of risks at home and abroad.”
Her point is that we are at a major sea-change in the history of US monetary policy, and the years of artificially low interest rates and loose monetary policy are drawing to an end. In the view of Mohamed El Erian, the chief economic adviser to Allianz and author of The Only Game in Town, today’s Fed statement will signal “an important evolution in its policy approach aiming for a beautiful rate normalisation”.
Ivan Fallon is a former business editor of The Sunday Times and the author of Black Horse Ride: The Inside Story of Lloyds and the Financial Crisis.
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Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
UAE athletes heading to Paris 2024
Equestrian
Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi, Abdullah Al Marri, Omar Al Marzooqi, Salem Al Suwaidi, and Ali Al Karbi (four to be selected).
Judo
Men: Narmandakh Bayanmunkh (66kg), Nugzari Tatalashvili (81kg), Aram Grigorian (90kg), Dzhafar Kostoev (100kg), Magomedomar Magomedomarov (+100kg); women's Khorloodoi Bishrelt (52kg).
Cycling
Safia Al Sayegh (women's road race).
Swimming
Men: Yousef Rashid Al Matroushi (100m freestyle); women: Maha Abdullah Al Shehi (200m freestyle).
Athletics
Maryam Mohammed Al Farsi (women's 100 metres).
Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
SPECS
Engine: Dual electric motors with 102kW battery pack
Power: 570hp
Torque: 890Nm
Range: Up to 428km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Dooda Solutions
Based: Lebanon
Founder: Nada Ghanem
Sector: AgriTech
Total funding: $300,000 in equity-free funding
Number of employees: 11
ENGLAND SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
THE BIO
Mr Al Qassimi is 37 and lives in Dubai
He is a keen drummer and loves gardening
His favourite way to unwind is spending time with his two children and cooking
Law 41.9.4 of men’s T20I playing conditions
The fielding side shall be ready to start each over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed.
An electronic clock will be displayed at the ground that counts down seconds from 60 to zero.
The clock is not required or, if already started, can be cancelled if:
• A new batter comes to the wicket between overs.
• An official drinks interval has been called.
• The umpires have approved the on field treatment of an injury to a batter or fielder.
• The time lost is for any circumstances beyond the control of the fielding side.
• The third umpire starts the clock either when the ball has become dead at the end of the previous over, or a review has been completed.
• The team gets two warnings if they are not ready to start overs after the clock reaches zero.
• On the third and any subsequent occasion in an innings, the bowler’s end umpire awards five runs.
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Elmawkaa
Based: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Founders: Ebrahem Anwar, Mahmoud Habib and Mohamed Thabet
Sector: PropTech
Total funding: $400,000
Investors: 500 Startups, Flat6Labs and angel investors
Number of employees: 12
Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
Jurassic Park
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Fixtures:
Thursday:
Hatta v Al Jazira, 4.55pm
Al Wasl v Dibba, 7.45pm
Friday:
Al Dhafra v Al Nasr, 5.05pm
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai v Al Wahda, 7.45pm
Saturday:
Ajman v Emirates, 4.55pm
Al Ain v Sharjah, 7.45pm
KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY
July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington
July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon
1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024
1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs
2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website
2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006
2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black
2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year
2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video
2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started
2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products
2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013
2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS
2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa
2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition
2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone