Universal Basic Income, Student Loan Forgiveness, And Crypto Craziness—Too Good To Be True?

Universal Basic Income, Student Loan Forgiveness, And Crypto Craziness—Too Good To Be True?

With the number of cryptocurrencies growing, Child Credit tax "prefunds" looking like a step toward ... [+] Universal Basic Income and student loan borrowers given another reprieve, the economic outlook is positive. But is it all too good to be true?

When I look around at the economy these days, I see an environment where everything seems too good to be true. The Delta strain of COVID continues to spread like wildfire, but inoculations have started picking up in many states, which is definitely a positive sign. Interest rates remain at rock bottom levels, with some saying they are the lowest in 4,000 years. That’s not likely to change anytime soon, since the Federal Reserve recently announced it will continue to target a range between zero and 0.25% for its benchmark interest rate. With money so cheap, even shaky companies that might have ordinarily been forced into Chapter 11 can borrow, leading to a dramatic decline in defaults. In fact, July 2021 had no high yield bond or loan defaults, a phenomenon that’s occurred only seven times in the 163 months since the beginning of 2008.