Free Advice for Fed: Raise Rates When Furniture Sales Fully Recover

The Fed isn't quite sure what threshold it should be using to determine when to raise interest rates. Can't say I blame them. I therefore thought I'd offer some free (deflationary) advice.<br /><br />Furniture sales and new home sales go hand in hand. Right? So simply raise rates when furniture store sales (as a percentage of disposable personal income) reach "normal" levels again. What could be easier? Transparent. Clean. Consistent.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6taFX965j0GqBuR89H3VZSpkO19DSqkMmNQPWUw6IxpQSQtuSAEr8QN3_BQScdhNLUZPCeki5d6D2O8QTAigWAZzlEuGOOUDxl4q-SHWzrhXUFq6s06x0wZ-7eydYgXdNJwGINLgbrA/s1600/Furniture+vs.+Income+-+Long-Term.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6taFX965j0GqBuR89H3VZSpkO19DSqkMmNQPWUw6IxpQSQtuSAEr8QN3_BQScdhNLUZPCeki5d6D2O8QTAigWAZzlEuGOOUDxl4q-SHWzrhXUFq6s06x0wZ-7eydYgXdNJwGINLgbrA/s320/Furniture+vs.+Income+-+Long-Term.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Let's zoom in on that recent trend in red and try to estimate how long it will take to get back to normal.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEbjXrO-pmLxwpg2ATVMXDwQlZfel0wtn9AEwGH2FXmdHgzPZX_8QF9UeJ0Ndpngpvzo803hScMRjYd4C8tr45Wh2cz5g_nq9T8Qj6yKa37CRf42jterXRKCXpank4QUexL_5dIqdfM8/s1600/Furniture+vs.+Income+-+Short-Term.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEbjXrO-pmLxwpg2ATVMXDwQlZfel0wtn9AEwGH2FXmdHgzPZX_8QF9UeJ0Ndpngpvzo803hScMRjYd4C8tr45Wh2cz5g_nq9T8Qj6yKa37CRf42jterXRKCXpank4QUexL_5dIqdfM8/s320/Furniture+vs.+Income+-+Short-Term.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />The solution is clear. Raise rates just this side of never. Be just like Japan!<br /><br /><b>See Also:</b><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2007/09/trend-line-disclaimer-time.html">Trend Line Disclaimer</a><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2010/06/sarcasm-disclaimer.html">Sarcasm Disclaimer</a><br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=sjS">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

Free Advice for Fed: Raise Rates When Furniture Sales Fully Recover

The Fed isn't quite sure what threshold it should be using to determine when to raise interest rates. Can't say I blame them. I ther...

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