Monthly Archives: December 2012

Is Sub-3 Percent Economic Growth the New Norm?

Just as much of the emphasis of the political discourse in Washington has been on the economy of late, a great deal of our investment decisions is influenced by our views on both the current state of the economy and our forecast for future economic growth. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the U.S. economy has grown for twelve consecutive quarters, but the pace of the growth has been slow and below historical economic recovery averages. Evidence of this slow growth can be found in the paltry 1.3% revised Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annualized growth rate for the 2nd quarter of 2012.Read more

Understanding the Potential Impact of a Fiscal Cliff Compromise

It seems as though you can’t turn on a news channel these days and not hear some discussion about the impending Fiscal Cliff. These discussions generally involve some type of doomsday scenario where the economy, and stock markets, “fall off of a cliff” as a result of the draconian spending cuts and tax increases that could take place if changes are not made by the end of 2012 as they relate to the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts and the spending cuts proposed under the Budget Control Act of 2011.Read more