Oh, the uncertainty!
Investors are keeping one
eye on the Federal Reserve and the other on politicians trying to determine
what may happen during the last quarter of the year.
The Fed, which is the
central bank of the United States, is responsible for conducting monetary
policy with an eye toward full employment and stable prices. If, as St. Louis
Fed President James Bullard told Reuters,
the economy is near full employment and inflation is sure to rise, then why
didn’t the Fed raise rates in September?
Reuters reported voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
decided uncertainty in global markets had the potential to negatively affect
domestic economic strength. Mr. Bullard believes the decision puts an October
increase in doubt, too, according to Nasdaq.com. Mr. Bullard told reporters:
“For the committee, it's
always hard to have made a big decision at one meeting and come back at the
next meeting. The key question will be what kind of data did you get during the
intervening period that changed your mind, and it's not that clear what data we
will have in hand in October that we would be able to cite to support my
position, relative to what we had at the September meeting. But it is
possible.”
Regardless, Chairwoman
Janet Yellen made it clear last week she expects to see a rate hike before
year-end. That might have helped settle markets, except Speaker of the House
John Boehner resigned soon after Yellen spoke. The Speaker’s resignation made a
government shutdown this week less likely, according to Barron’s. However, fiscal policy issues haven’t been resolved. A
meeting of the political minds this week would set the stage for a mid-December
showdown and that’s data the Fed will have to consider if the December FOMC
meeting occurs amidst a government shutdown and debt-ceiling crisis.
No one seemed to be happy
with the state of affairs this week, and stock markets were awash in red ink.
what will they say? Soon, cars will be able to
talk with one another. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V) has been tested
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a relatively mild and polite Midwestern town. Now, V2V
is being rolled out in New York City, along with technology that allows traffic
signals to contribute their two cents. Just imagine what a New York cab might
have to say to another New York cab that changes lanes without signaling.
Okay,
it’s nothing like that.
The
idea is to reduce traffic accidents. If a dangerous situation arises an alert
sounds. Gizmodo.com described it like
this:
“These sensors send out signals over a specific
wireless spectrum band and also receive them from other vehicles, creating a
network of communicating sensors that ping when there’s danger… A secondary
form of the technology, called Vehicle-to-Infrastructure, does the same thing –
but with sensors embedded in stop signs, traffic lights, and other pieces of road
infrastructure.”
Soon,
people will be able to install V2V on smartphones so they can ping a warning to
approaching cars as well.
While
V2V seems like a good idea, pinging a warning to a distracted driver moments
before a crash and expecting them to respond appropriately may be asking too
much. The Economist suggests that
automation – giving vehicles the ability to take over – cannot be far behind. “Depending
on how you look at it, that’s a good thing – or terrifying… opening cars and
buses up to computerized control also means opening them up to hackers… Imagine
the fun they could have if thousands more vehicles could be controlled from
computers or smartphones.”
Ultimately,
intelligent transportation systems are expected to optimize the number of
vehicles that can use roadways, helping save money that would otherwise be
spent on expanding infrastructure to accommodate population growth.
Weekly Focus – Think About It
“Forgiveness is the
fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.
--Mark Twain, American
writer
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