U.S. Economic News
September 14, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August (up 1.9% on the year) almost entirely due to increases in gasoline and shelter prices. The “core” CPI, which excludes food and energy, edged up 0.2% in August and is up 1.7% on the year. BLS Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that Republicans plan to release their tax reform plan during the week of September 25th. Congressional Republicans also announced that they plan to finish the budget process by mid-October, at which point they could begin voting on the tax plan in hopes of completing the process before year’s end. WSJ
Greg Ip of the Wall Street Journal writes that recent, weak inflation is forcing the Federal Reserve to decide between lowering its inflation target or allowing the economy to overheat. Ip argues that to stimulate inflation, the Fed must allow the unemployment rate to drop even further and leave interest rates unchanged, which could overheat the economy or allow asset bubbles to form. WSJ
According to the Wall Street Journal, sand suppliers have begun buying large tracts of land in West Texas in order to mine and sell the sand to oil drillers in the Permian basin. As energy prices crashed in 2014, drillers were forced to cut costs and produce oil more efficiently, which resulted in greater use of frac sand in horizontal wells. WSJ