CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom — To the extent that financial historians ever refer back to August 2024, I suspect it would be for the craziness of the first three days of the month when equity prices tumbled as investors dumped their darling stocks and sent the VIX soaring to levels not seen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Meanwhile, an equally seasoned, highly respected university professor took to the airwaves to call for a large emergency interest-rate cut before the FOMC's next regularly scheduled policy meeting in mid-September. He then added that this should be followed by an equally large cut at the time of the meeting.This degree of analytical volatility is not normal. After all, one generally needs a very solid foundation before making these dramatic calls .