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bluford_putnam

Bluford Putnam

Managing Director and Chief Economist, CME Group

Bluford (Blu) Putnam has served as Managing Director and Chief Economist of CME Group since May 2011. He is responsible for leading economic analysis on global financial markets by identifying emerging trends, evaluating economic factors and forecasting their impact on CME Group and the company's business strategy. He also serves as CME Group's spokesperson on global economic conditions and manages external research initiatives.
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Jul 15, 2014

Food Price Inflation and El Nino Possibility

Food price inflation is increasing sharply in the US. Only last December 2013, food prices were just 1.05% higher than the previous December. As of May 2014, food price inflation was running at 2.46% (year over year) and possibly heading above 4% by late 2014 or early 2015. Now, the Federal Reserve (Fed) prefers to…

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Mar 5, 2014

Examining Emerging Market FX Contagion: It was all about Relative Risk-adjusted Performance

A large number of emerging markets currencies declined en masse during the period from 30 April 2013 through 31 January 2014, with many observers applying the moniker of contagion.  Over the whole period many emerging market currencies were clustered in the range of losing between 9% and 22% of their value against the US dollar,…

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Jan 31, 2014

The Shrinking US Federal Budget Deficit

The US federal budget has a reasonable probability (our base case scenario) of reaching operational balance – revenues equal expenses excluding interest expense – by FY2015. This is an amazing turnaround and it means that budget deficit is now shrinking faster, meaning reduced supply of US Treasuries, even as the Federal Reserve tapers its quantitative…

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Jan 21, 2014

US Economy Finished 2013 Healthier than Ever

The US economy finished 2013 healthier than it has been since the depths of the financial recession in 2008 and 2009.  There were a number of milestones in 2013; many have not been fully appreciated. First, the US energy production boom has probably adding some 0.5% annually to US real GDP.  US crude oil production…

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Nov 8, 2013

The Fed’s QE Dilemma

The US does not have any measurable inflation pressure now nor has it had any over the last 20 years.  The core personal consumption price index, used as the benchmark for inflation by the Federal Reserve (Fed) has been in the 1.25% to 2.5% zone since 1994, averaging about 1.75% for the last 20 years,…

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Oct 2, 2013

US Energy Revolution’s Impact on Trade Flows

The substantial increase in the supply of energy from the United States is dramatically affecting US trade flows.  US crude oil production has increased about 29% and natural gas production has grown 33% since 2005.  To analyze the impact on trade flows, we must first examine what has happened to US energy consumption. Energy consumption…

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Oct 1, 2013

US Energy Production & Its Growth Dividend

The substantial increase in the supply of energy from the United States is providing the US with an economic growth dividend. Since 2005, which we use as our base year since it roughly represents the year before the energy revolution in the US started, crude oil production in the US has increased 29% and natural…

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