Forbes reports that US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said there’s no simple answer to the housing crisis.
“By preventing avoidable foreclosures, we will safeguard neighborhoods and communities and fulfill our responsibility of protecting the broader U.S. economy,” Paulson said in excerpts of his speech released by Treasury. “However, let me be clear: there is no single or simple solution that will undo the excesses of the last few years.”
On top of that, there’s some talk at CNN that Wall Street is calling for the Fed to lower interest rates again.
The government reported December employment figures on Friday. Only 18,000 jobs were added to the nation’s payrolls while economists were predicting job growth of 70,000. What’s more, the unemployment rate was expected to come in at 4.8 percent, up from 4.7 percent in November.
As a result of these gloomy numbers, expectations for a half-point rate cut grew Friday morning. According to futures listed on the Chicago Board of Trade, investors are pricing in a 84 percent chance that the Fed will lower the federal funds rates by 50 basis points, to 3.75 percent, at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on January 30.
It seems there’s no simple answer to any of the issues our economy is facing. In other news, Marketwatch is reporting that Anheuser Busch shipments to wholesalers are up 2%. With all the turmoil in the stock market and housing market, are people drinking their worries away? That’s a simple (although temporary) solution!