ANALYSIS: Fed's Brown Book More Pessimistic, Most Jurisdictions' Economies Flat or Declining

The Fed's Beige Book has been pessimistic about economic growth throughout the post-epidemic period, with the most optimistic assessment of the US economic expansion being ‘moderate’, says macro strategist Cameron Crise. The latest Beige Book noted ‘modest’ growth in three regions and flat or even negative growth in nine others. This is slightly less favourable than the last report. In isolation, this sounds bad, and to be sure, the Fed could use it as an excuse to adjust interest rates this month, but that's not much different from most of the past few years. In any case, the market could easily use this as an excuse to pour more money into the bond market.