The conventional wisdom of the past eight years has been that without central bank action, the crisis of 2008-09 would have turned into a global depression. However, there are indicators that suggest this isn't necessarily true. The markets have written off the chance of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in July. This is based on the relatively weak preliminary economic data from May and, of course, the turmoil from the Brexit vote. Indeed, the market’s read is probably correct, although the Fed’s reasoning may not be so solid. The Consumer Price Index grew 0.2 percent in June, but, more importantly, the pace of inflation has been steadily on the rise. While up a modest 1 percent in the past year, consumer prices have increased a...

TAGS – Livestock, Asia, North America