The annualized quarterly GDP is growing, but it has been growing at a lower rate since the third quarter of 2015. Commercial and industrial credit is growing at a rate of an economy that is not expanding.

During the last seven years credit volumes did not grow as as in previous liquidity periods, despite having the federal reserve interest rates close to 0%. This means the US economy is not expanding.

Today, the central bank debate focuses on whether they should continue to use the inflation target as the main objective for monetary policies or if it should change to a nominal GDP target.

When talking about economic recovery, a distinction must be made between short-term and long-term effects. We’ll label as short-term effects those that last less than a year, and as mid and long term those that last more than a year. In practice, three to five years are needed to determine if effects are long lasting or not.

Greece’s delayed payment on its debt, its possible default, and an eventual exit from the euro have been some of the most widely covered news stories in the media over the last weeks. What would be the implications of a Greek default? What would be the implications of an eventual Greek exit from the euro?

Creditors of private and government debt generally perform credit analyses, first to grant a loan or purchase bonds, and then eventually to evaluate debt restructurings.