Excess Returns · Monday, September 14, 2026
Jim Paulsen argues that the Federal Reserve faces a challenge in managing monetary policy for an economy with two distinct narratives: booming tech earnings and struggling commodity-linked sectors. He suggests that a uniform policy approach might be inappropriate given this divergence.
“So, we have to choose later next week. You know, whether we're gonna tighten or ease. And I think there's too much calm, uh, is what I'm getting at, too much average analysis, which leads people to believe that, you know, this commy's pretty good, and we gotta slow this thing down.”
“And I think that's why I'm saying, I think, I think we need to separate these stories because if, if I'm a policy official, and I could do it, I'd be tightening on the blue and I'd be easing on the red. The problem is, we don't have policies like that. Not a gear, macro policies.”