Federal Reserve

Archive for Federal Reserve

Scott Sumner to Fed: “There Is No Justification for Listening to My Advice”

I know you guys think I’m just being a mosquito, buzzing around Scott Sumner’s ear and criticizing him for no good reason. Well you’re wrong. I am the sentinel in the night, guarding the integrity of the USD from Sumner’s attempted debasement, while you have barbecues and watch fireworks. Now I know very well what […]

How the Bankers Arranged for a Stream of Billions in Subsidies

I have not seen too many people comment on this; here’s one guy mentioning it last August. The punchline is that amongst other favors, private bankers have managed to use the financial crisis such that they now receive a stream of billions of dollars in income from the Federal Reserve. Moreover, this amount could rise […]

Bernanke the Consultant

Reuters explains Ben Bernanke’s new gig: Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is joining bond giant Pimco as a senior adviser, as the firm seeks to bolster its star power following the departure of co-founder Bill Gross. The move may be questioned by some competitors who had criticized the Fed during Bernanke’s reign for being […]

Ben Bernanke Blogging

Former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke has a new blog hosted at the Brookings Institution. What interests me is the reverence with which we are to hold the former Fed officials. Here’s how Bernanke describes why he’s happy about this opportunity: The ability to shape market expectations of future policy through public statements is one […]

Rand Paul Criticizes Fed, Pundits Flip Out

My latest at Mises CA. The conclusion: Despite the minor mistakes in his presentation–which again was from a speech to a live audience–Rand Paul has put his finger on a very serious issue. Central banks around the world have loaded up on assets, particularly central government debt, in an unprecedented fashion. If and when they […]

Standard Financial Models Wouldn’t Predict That Yields Would Spike After End of QE3

When it helped his cause, Krugman understood the stock/flow distinction and why you wouldn’t think the well-anticipated end of asset purchases would cause a sudden change in market price. Yet that didn’t stop Krugman from arguing recently that Treasury yields since the end of QE3 must mean Fed hasn’t been holding down yields. I walk […]

Martin Wolf, Closet Austrian?

Is this from the FT or the Peter Schiff show? Huge expansions in credit followed by crises and attempts to manage the aftermath have become a feature of the world economy. Today the US and UK may be escaping from the crises that hit seven years ago. But the eurozone is mired in post-crisis stagnation […]