Pages

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Monetary

News                                                                                                                             
CNN: Money | Dollar hits 15-month low against euro
The dollar took a beating Wednesday, losing ground to a range of currencies, and falling to its lowest level against the euro in 15 months.
Bloomberg | Bernanke Bond Market Signals No Shift With Obama Deficit Cutting
The Federal Reserve can be counted on to keep its balance sheet big and interest rates low if President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers agree on a multi-year deal to slash the $1.4 trillion budget deficit.

Econ Comments                                                                                                             
Minyanville | The Great Flattening of First Quarter 2011
The Fed calls it a credit crunch or liquidity freeze, but what they don't understand is that demand for credit is weak because of the uncertainty in the business environment.
WSJ | Fleeing the Dollar Flood
The world tries to protect itself from U.S. monetary policy.
Minyanville | Voodoo Economics: Dissecting Quantitative Easing as Monetary Policy
Advocates of QE believe it will lower interest rates promoting expenditure and growth, among other positives. The reality is much different.
Smart Money | What Happens When QE2 Ends?
As government agencies go, few have a bigger influence, of course, than the Federal Reserve, whose policies affect the prices of everything from a 30-year mortgage to a double skim latte, not to mention the outlook for economic growth, jobs and inflation. So when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled last year that the Fed would buy as much as $600 billion in Treasury bonds, it was bound to make waves—among Fed fans and critics alike.