The pandemic threw cold water on the inflation rate in the US, but the price level is beginning to heat up. The country is bursting at the seams with pent-up consumer demand, but much will depend on the rate-setting actions taken by the Federal Reserve. How hot will the central bank let it get before raising rates to turn down the heat?
Are you wondering how to invest in 2021, a year that is starting with concerning negatives but also hopeful positives? Although predicting how this year will wind up is difficult, the investor can take steps to make the most of what is guaranteed to be another wild year of ups and downs, including capitalising on inflation surges, capturing cyclical upswings, looking to emerging markets for credit opportunities and harnessing volatility.
Banks around the world have been crucial throughout 2020 in stabilising their respective economies. They have ensured that liquidity continues to be transmitted to the real economy, which in turn has helped to prevent a full-blown credit crisis from emerging as happened during the 2007-09 global financial crisis.
“For the first time since the pandemic began, there is now hope for a brighter future.” That was the assessment given by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) on December 1 following the news of progress being made with coronavirus vaccines.