CPD IN THE NEWS

Some top policymakers, including Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, said recent volatility in global markets could quickly ease and possibly pave the way for the U.S. rate hike, for which investors, governments and central banks around the world are bracing.

With a key policy meeting set for Sept. 16-17, at least five Fed officials spoke publicly in what amounted to a jockeying for position on whether increasing the Fed's benchmark overnight lending rate was too risky amid an economic slowdown in China, a rising U.S. dollar .DXY and falling commodity prices XAU= CMCU3.

"It's early to tell," Fischer told CNBC on the sidelines of the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "We're still watching how it unfolds." He, along with other Fed officials, acknowledged that the global equities sell-off that began last week would influence the timing of a rate hike, which until only a couple of weeks ago seemed increasingly likely to occur in September.

Concerns about China's economy have whipsawed markets, including Wall Street, even while U.S. economic data has been robust. U.S. stock indexes ended largely unchanged, capping a week that included both the market's worst day in four years and biggest two-day gain since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

"I think they could settle fairly quickly," said Fischer, a close ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told Reuters he still favored hiking rates next month, though he added that his colleagues would be hesitant to do so if global markets continued to be volatile in mid-September.

The Fed's policy committee "does not like to move right in the middle of a global financial storm," Bullard, a Fed hawk, said in an interview. "So one of the advantages we have is that this storm is occurring now and, at least as of now, we think it will be settled down" by the September meeting.

The comments suggest the next two and a half weeks will be critical for the Fed as well as for global markets. A U.S. rate hike is expected to hit emerging market equities and currencies particularly hard, adding to the sell-offs already seen.

Source: Reuters

We should not mince words: Raising interest rates is meant to intentionally slow down the economy. With low-wage earners still underemployed, wages stagnant, and black families still mired in a Great Recession of our own, the economy is simply not ready for the Federal Reserve to slow it down by raising rates. So why the hurry?

By all accounts, supporters of higher interest rates are not following the data. While the unemployment levels are generally inching down, there is pain in other key economic indicators: Wages remain low, and there are pockets of high unemployment and racial inequality. Underemployment is still very high, and there are many more job seekers than job openings. In short, the labor market is still slack, with no risk that rising wages will drive up inflation.

As Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz recently wrote, the evidence “indicates that the predictable costs of premature tightening — slower job and wage growth — far outweigh the risk of accelerating inflation.”

Roughly one in five African-American workers and one in six Hispanic workers are unemployed or underemployed. Similarly, about one in six workers with only a high school degree are unemployed or underemployed. These workers have little chance of seeing wage gains if the Fed slows the pace of job creation.

According to the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure, inflation is running under 1.1%, significantly below the Fed’s already-low target of 2%. Inflation has been below 2% for most of the past six years. And Fed staff — as well as financial markets — expect inflation to remain below 2% over the next few years.

The data simply do not add up to a legitimate case for raising rates. The Fed is under enormous pressure to raise rates from Wall Street banks and conservative voices within the institution. But yielding to that pressure would damage the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of America’s working families. In the absence of any real threat of harmful inflation, there is simply no reason to slow down the economy and submit those families to more hardship.

Connie M. Razza is the director of strategic research at the Center for Popular Democracy.

Source: USA Today

The New York Police Department’s body camera program launched this week, but not without a fight from activists.

Last week, Communities United for Police Reform and other community groups filed a legal opposition to the NYPD’s then-proposed policy. Submitted to Judge Analisa Torres, they wanted to halt the program’s rollout. The community groups, along with entities like The Center for Constitutional Rights, believe the language of the program renders the concept of body cameras for cops meaningless.

Read the full article here.

Newsmax - 05-06-2015  - Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren held a set of private meetings on April 22 with a group of progressive activists, including several involved in the draft Warren for president campaign, Politico reported.

The discussion centered on social and economic issues, police brutality, and immigration. The attendees would like Warren to help move the Democratic dialogue — and the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — further to the left.

Jonathan Westin of New York Communities for Change said the goal of the meeting was to see "how Elizabeth Warren with her platform could work with us to move a progressive vision for the country and really engage with communities of color," Politico reported.

Westin has been active through the New York Working Families Party and MoveOn.org in calling for her to run for president.

"This was about someone who we want to be sharing the issues that are affecting communities of color and working class communities to make her the strongest possible champion on those issues," said Daniel Altschuler, another "Draft Warren" advocate.

There is no indication that the presidential issue was raised.

Also taking part in the meetings were Shabnam Bashiri of Rise Up Georgia, Bill Bartlett of Action United, and Brian Kettenring of the Center for Popular Democracy.

Democracy for America and MoveOn.org are key players behind the draft Warren campaign and also coordinate with the Ready for Warren group, Politico reported.

Many progressives in the Democratic Party argue that a primary race would push Clinton into adopting positions closer to those of the party's base.

"Some of the people I know who were in the 'Draft Warren' movement are people we work with and know, because they're part of the broader progressive ecosystem. I'd say more of us are stepping up to define the terms of the debate," said Kettenring.

"The point of the meeting was to discuss economic and social justice issues," a Warren aide told Politico. "As Sen. Warren has said many times, she does not support the draft group's efforts and is not running for president."