The US budget deal
Posted on December 12, 2013
We have always thought 2014 would be a solid recovery year, provided US congress doesn’t shoot themselves in the foot again. It appears that overnight they have put the self-harm aside, at least for a year. The outlook for 2014 seems a lot brighter all of a sudden.
The details of the budget deal seem fairly vanilla. As the Economist put it “a seemingly impossible mix of modest deficit cuts, spending rises and revenues magically raised without corresponding tax increases.”
Good news is bad
Faced with unexpected deal, the markets of course fell. They reasoned that the deal raises the chances of tapering (probably right) and that interest rates would swiftly rise (probably wrong). Lost in the whole discussion of tapering and interest rates is the good news. The US economy, without much help from congress is recovering as shown by an increase in US federal government revenue, which is now much higher and continuing to improve.
Now as long as they agree to stay out of the way, US and the world economy will be better off.
About Caterer Goodman Partners
Caterer Goodman Partners is a Shanghai based wealth management firm established with a clear vision to provide a new level of personalized financial planning services for expatriates in Asia. Our financial advisors provide guidance for our clients in all areas of investment, specialising in managed accounts, money-market funds, retirement planning and alternative investments. At Caterer Goodman Partners, we offer our advice and experience to provide low cost, tax-effective and simple solutions to match our clients’ interests.
About Owen Caterer
Since graduation Mr Owen Caterer has worked with the Queensland Premier's Department in Trade Facilitation and then as a financial adviser in Shanghai from 2005 until 2010. He then rose to Senior Adviser, then Business Development manager and then to Chief Investment Officer responsible for portfolios to a value of US$280 million across Asia. Following that Mr Caterer left to found his own firm with a partner in the financial advisory and wealth management area. This focused on developing China and Asia's first fee-based financial advisory (rather than commission-based). This has grown to now have 8 staff and and managing almost US$35 million for clients throughout Asia. This business success was recognized as a finalist in the 2013 ACBA in the Start Up Enterprises category and are one of a small number of foreign managed firms to have a full asset management license in China. Owen has also been active in the community volunteering for the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and acting as the Vice-Chair of the Small Business Working Group (2012-2014) and as the Co-Deputy Chair of the Financial Services since 2013 until the present. They have continued to grow their business and have now been selected as a small group of companies who are platinum members of the Australian chamber of commerce. The achievement they are most proud of is their efforts to reform the financial planning industry in China and push it away from a hard-sales commission driven model to a more ethical management fee and long term customer service model. Owen has a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance from the Securities Institute of Australia of which he was a member as a Fellow of Finance for many years and also has an undergraduate degree from Griffith University in International Business. Owen's interests are tennis, running and his wife and two children. He speaks fluent Chinese, first arriving in China in 1997.
Tags: Budget deal, Caterer Goodman, China Expat Money, Financial Advisor, Investment, Market, Owen, Owen Caterer, Paul Ryan, Shanghai, US economy, US tapering
Categorised in: Economic Commentary, Market Flash