Lacy Hunt is an internationally known economist, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Economist of Hoisington Investment Management Company (HIMCO), a firm that manages $4 billion for pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, and others. Previously, Lacy was Chief U.S. Economist for the HSBC Group, one of the world’s largest banks, Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at Fidelity Bank and Vice President for Monetary Economics at Chase Econometrics Associates, Inc. Lacy considers himself fortunate that he had the opportunity of working for two firms led by great bankers: David Rockefeller (Chase) and Sir William Purvis (HSBC). A native of Texas, Lacy has served as Senior Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. While at the Dallas Fed, he served on the Federal Reserve System Committees: Financial Analysis and International Economics. He successfully completed the training program at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. When he entered the Fed, William McChesney Martin was grappling with a severe inflation and when he left Author Burns was also trying to contain rampant price increases, virtually the opposite of the challenges facing Janet Yellen and the Fed today. At the Fidelity Bank of Philadelphia he had the responsibility for managing the Trust Department’s Comingled Fixed Income Fund in the 1970s and early 1980s. This fund produced one of the highest returns during this inflationary era. Lacy is the author of two books, and numerous articles in leading magazines, periodicals and scholarly journals. Dr. Hunt has testified before various committees of Congress, including House Ways and Means, Senate Finance and Senate Banking. He earned his BA from Sewanee: The University of the South (1964), his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1966), and his Ph.D. in Economics from the Fox School of Business and Management of Temple University (1969). Lacy and his wife JK (Janet Kay) live in Austin, Texas. They have four daughters, two sons and three grandsons.
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Episode 359
Lacy Hunt
America’s National Savings and Debt Crisis | Lacy Hunt
Lacy Hunt is an internationally known economist, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Economist of Hoisington Investment Management Company (HIMCO), a firm that manages $4 billion for pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, and others. Previously, Lacy was Chief U.S. Economist for the HSBC Group, one of the world’s largest banks, Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at Fidelity Bank and Vice President for Monetary Economics at Chase Econometrics Associates, Inc. Lacy considers himself fortunate that he had the opportunity of working for two firms led by great bankers: David Rockefeller (Chase) and Sir William Purvis (HSBC). A native of Texas, Lacy has served as Senior Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. While at the Dallas Fed, he served on the Federal Reserve System Committees: Financial Analysis and International Economics. He successfully completed the training program at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. When he entered the Fed, William McChesney Martin was grappling with a severe inflation and when he left Author Burns was also trying to contain rampant price increases, virtually the opposite of the challenges facing Janet Yellen and the Fed today. At the Fidelity Bank of Philadelphia he had the responsibility for managing the Trust Department’s Comingled Fixed Income Fund in the 1970s and early 1980s. This fund produced one of the highest returns during this inflationary era. Lacy is the author of two books, and numerous articles in leading magazines, periodicals and scholarly journals. Dr. Hunt has testified before various committees of Congress, including House Ways and Means, Senate Finance and Senate Banking. He earned his BA from Sewanee: The University of the South (1964), his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1966), and his Ph.D. in Economics from the Fox School of Business and Management of Temple University (1969). Lacy and his wife JK (Janet Kay) live in Austin, Texas. They have four daughters, two sons and three grandsons.
In Episode 359 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Economist Lacy Hunt about America’s national savings and debt crisis. Dr. Hunt is the Executive Vice President and Chief Economist of Hoisington Investment Management Company. He previously served as Chief U.S. Economist for the HSBC Group, as Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at Fidelity Bank, and as Senior Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas during the course of a 55-year career studying markets and the economy.
In the first hour, Lacy Hunt shares his broad assessment of how the global economy is doing and the monetary and cyclical economic indicators he relies on to make that assessment. He and Demetri discuss the increased role of the US Treasury as an economic policy actor in the post-pandemic period and the concerning decline in the net national savings rate. They also discuss whether the neutral rate of interest, a hotly debated topic among economists, is moving lower, and what this means for trend growth, interest rates, and inflation.
In the second hour, Dr. Hunt explains why he believes that the Fed has been able to raise interest rates by more than 500 basis points in less than two years without inducing a recession. Is this because other causal factors have remained more accommodative, or have the lags just grown longer and more variable, and if so, why? What does this tell us about the business cycle and the effectiveness of monetary policy? He and Demetri also discuss the chronically high fiscal deficits and the implications of trying to reduce them in an environment where the economy is becoming more dependent on government spending to boost economic growth, support critical national investments in energy and defense, and contribute to the private savings of the economy. Finally, Lacy Hunt explains why he believes that demographics are destiny and how trends in population growth, fertility rates, and family formation in many developed countries will impact growth and inflation in the years to come.
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Lacy Hunt is an internationally known economist, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Economist of Hoisington Investment Management Company (HIMCO), a firm that manages $4 billion for pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, and others. Previously, Lacy was Chief U.S. Economist for the HSBC Group, one of the world’s largest banks, Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at Fidelity Bank and Vice President for Monetary Economics at Chase Econometrics Associates, Inc. Lacy considers himself fortunate that he had the opportunity of working for two firms led by great bankers: David Rockefeller (Chase) and Sir William Purvis (HSBC). A native of Texas, Lacy has served as Senior Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. While at the Dallas Fed, he served on the Federal Reserve System Committees: Financial Analysis and International Economics. He successfully completed the training program at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. When he entered the Fed, William McChesney Martin was grappling with a severe inflation and when he left Author Burns was also trying to contain rampant price increases, virtually the opposite of the challenges facing Janet Yellen and the Fed today. At the Fidelity Bank of Philadelphia he had the responsibility for managing the Trust Department’s Comingled Fixed Income Fund in the 1970s and early 1980s. This fund produced one of the highest returns during this inflationary era.
Lacy is the author of two books, and numerous articles in leading magazines, periodicals and scholarly journals. Dr. Hunt has testified before various committees of Congress, including House Ways and Means, Senate Finance and Senate Banking.
He earned his BA from Sewanee: The University of the South (1964), his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1966), and his Ph.D. in Economics from the Fox School of Business and Management of Temple University (1969).
Lacy and his wife JK (Janet Kay) live in Austin, Texas. They have four daughters, two sons and three grandsons.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
