We’ve never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis. So, what I think what is more likely is that house prices will slow, maybe stabilize, might slow consumption spending a bit. I don’t think it’s going to drive the economy too far from its full employment path, though.   – Chairman of CEA (and soon-to-be Fed Chairman) Ben Bernanke, July 2005 As Michael Lewis recounts in The Big Short, the investor Michael Burry quoted

Fitch forecasts the 2026 GG deficit will widen to 7.4% of GDP in 2026 from 6.8% in 2025, driven by One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax cuts and USD100 billion in tariff rebates as of July 2026. GG deficits, forecasted at 7.4% of GDP in 2027, will remain the highest in the ‘AA’ category, partly reflecting higher military expenditures, and interest costs. Fiscal pressures will increase as Medicare and Social Security expenditures expand by nearly

“We will do whatever it takes to support them in a way that helps the American economy, the American taxpayer,” Bessent said in an interview on CNBC two days after confirming Treasury had joined Japan’s finance authorities in an intervention to prop up the yen.  -Reuters, 8/4/26 Wall Street traders and strategists say US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is sending fresh signals that he’s eager to keep bond yields from spiking higher.  First, he staged the US’s first currency

PLEASE NOTE: Next week we will not publish as we will be on vacation with our family.  We will return to our normal publishing schedule the following week.