Big Picture-wise Where Is The American Economy Right Now?
The bubble and bull market look likely to continue
(Not intended to be investment advice, opinions are my own.)
We can quibble endlessly over the day to day ebbs and flows of financial markets and economic data. But that’s mainly noise — the long-term trends tend to be where the real signal is. So let’s try stepping back to see the big picture view of how the American economy is doing these days.
So where is the American economy at these days?
I like to think of the economy as two parts — the real economy and the financial economy. The real economy comprises of production (of goods and services) and the people and companies that produce and consume those goods and services. There’s also the financial economy — that’s the banking system and capital markets (stocks, bonds, mortgages, credit card debt, etc.). The financial economy allows the real economy to spend more than it earns, in effect trading off future consumption for current consumption.
The real economy
The real economy is in a pretty good place. The job market is still strong and steady, despite being somewhat weakened due to higher interest rates. U.S. unemployment has ticked up ever so…
