Economic News – January 2025
(Printable PDF) New Year, New Challenges The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the third time in its three-month-old easing cycle that started with a robust half-point reduction in September. The latest quarter-point cut won’t be the last, according to predictions made at the December 17-18 policy meeting. The question is, are we closer to […]
Economic News – December 2024
(Printable PDF) American Exceptionalism Should Endure Reflections on the U.S. elections are ongoing and will likely dominate the media for some time to come. That said, the polls are closed, and all eyes are focused on what the ramifications of the incoming Trump administration will be for the U.S. economy. Most commentators believe that the […]
Economic News – November 2024
(Printable PDF) Despite External Shocks, The Economy Is In Good Shape Once again, reports of the recovery’s imminent demise are premature. Just as the seasons change, so do perceptions of the economy’s health. In the waning days of the summer, things looked dire indeed. The job market was sputtering, consumers were pulling back, and public […]
Economic News – October 2024
(Printable PDF) The Economy Exits The Fast Lane The U.S. economy is going through a transition phase and is settling into a more sustainable pace of growth, with next year being decent but unspectacular. The probability of entering a recession in 2025 is considered low, but not zero. Some of the naysayers’ doubts about the […]
Five Questions With John Kirkwood
Five Questions With John Kirkwood John Kirkwood recently joined Brookline Bank as Director of the Commercial Markets Payments Group. With more than 25 years of foreign exchange experience, he brings a specialized focus in corporate FX trading and payment processing. Prior to joining the Bank, John was co-founder and owner of Commonwealth Foreign Exchange, Inc. […]
Economic News – September 2024
(Printable PDF) Rate Cuts Are On The Way For the first week of the month, it looked like we were entering the time-honored “dog days of August”, that foreboding mindset people get when they feel stuck in the mud and sense that things just aren’t going right. The first inkling of the blahs was delivered […]
Five Questions With Tom Smith
Five Questions With Tom Smith Tom Smith joined Brookline Bank in December of 2015 and has over 25 years of Business Banking experience. He is a Senior Vice President and serves as the bank’s Business Banking Team Leader. His career has focused on building strong relationships with business clients while helping them grow and ranges […]
Economic News – August 2024
(Printable PDF) Mission Accomplished? In the spring of 2022, the Federal Reserve embarked on a mission to wrestle inflation under control without cratering the economy. At the time, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the core Personal Consumption Deflator, was increasing at a 5.5 percent rate and the unemployment rate stood at 3.6 percent. Over the […]
Mentoring Women: A Follow-Up
Mentoring Women: A Follow-Up Recently, three senior leaders from Brookline Bank participated in a networking event to help mentor other women in the financial services industry: SVP & CRA Officer Jane Adler, VP & Senior Credit Officer Monica Paez, and SVP & Director of Corporate Credit Policy Maureen McCarthy. Mentoring is a passion for these […]
Economic News – July 2024
(Printable PDF) The Wait Time for Rate Cuts is Getting Shorter It’s a long way to Christmas, but with a nod to that beloved holiday ballad, it’s beginning to look a lot like a soft landing. Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, may soon be singing the praises for the way the economy is performing. True, […]
Economic News – June 2024
(Printable PDF) Perception Versus Reality For economists and policy makers, waiting for inflation to subside is like waiting for Godot. But that time may finally have arrived, as the consumer price index rose less than expected in April. It was the first time this year that inflation did not surprise on the upside, giving hope […]
Economic News – May 2024
(Printable PDF) Sticky Inflation Keeps Rates Higher for Longer Has the Fed thrown in the towel? That’s the question investors are grappling with; and those who think they know the answer are being deceived. At the start of the year, the odds-on bet was that the central bank was poised to cut interest rates, a […]
