Market experts gauge global economy’s impact on domestic construction

Source: Allen-Villere Partners, New Orleans

Strong stock market performance plus progress in U.S. and China trade discussions have helped temper concerns of an economic slowdown moving into 2020. In his latest Concrete Products dispatch, “Will headwinds from the global economy affect us?,” however, leading construction materials industry management consultant Pierre Villere discusses a potential 180-degree shift in market forces that could impact concrete demand. 

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A breath of fresh air from the National Association of Home Builders

PGV headshot 2016

By: Pierre G. Villere

The top line economic indicators are mixed these days, but we remain bullish at our firm about the future of the construction industry. My frustration is with the press, from CNBC to the major news networks on both the conservative and liberal sides of the political spectrum, with their need to fill the day with news. This results in long, anguished speculation about the state of the economy, and just more of the Chicken Little Syndrome, as I call it (“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”).

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Lower interest rates cause a jump in mortgage refinancing

PGV headshot 2016

By: Pierre Villere

As I have been saying for months now, the fear of a stalling economy coupled with the stock market correction in the Fall of 2018 shook up Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his fellow Board Governors, and they made public pronouncements that the Fed would pause any rate hikes for the foreseeable future. Shortly thereafter, the Fed came back and added that they were open to considering a cut in rates depending on the economic metrics they monitor to guide them in those decisions.

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