Coming into 2011 we suggested there were three major themes that would play out in the course of this year. We thought the U.S. economy would slow, particularly around mid-year. Most states would have to tighten their budgets by cutting spending and jobs, and raising taxes, before their 2012 fiscal year began on July 1. On June 30, the end of the Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing would create some uncertainty since it represents a de facto tightening of monetary policy. The U.S. economy has not achieved a self-sustaining level of growth in our opinion, and these headwinds were expected to weigh on growth in the second half of 2011. more »