News
Bloomberg | Fed Stuck at Zero Into 2015 Seen in Swaps, QE Odds Reach 99%
Just six months ago, money market traders expected the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by the end of 2013. Now, they see borrowing costs staying at record lows for about three more years as the economic outlook worsens.
Bloomberg | Central Bankers Meet in Basel as King Leads Libor Talks
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said global central bankers agreed to set up an inquiry into Libor after confidence collapsed in the benchmark rate for more than $500 trillion of securities.
CNN Money | China: Inflation jumps as economy slows
Chinese consumers paid 2% more in August than they did a year ago, the government's National Bureau of Statistics reported Sunday. That's up from a 1.8% increase in July -- a two-and-a-half year low.
USA Today | Economists see Fed action as likely, but with little benefit
Many economists say last week's disappointing report on job growth in August means the Fed will likely announce Thursday that it will buy more Treasury or government-backed mortgage bonds to lower long-term interest rates and stimulate economic activity.
Bloomberg | Bernanke Options to Boost Growth Include Open-Ended QE
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who last month defended his unorthodox monetary policies, has a new tool at hand should he seek one to a revive a flagging economy and labor market: open-ended bond buying.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | Bernanke Channels Nixon, Revives "We're All Keynesians Now!"
Last week at the famous Federal Reserve confab at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Chairman Ben Bernanke laid the groundwork for Quantitative Easing III. He couldn’t contain himself about how well the first two versions of the big Fed asset-purchase program had turned out over the last few years—unemployment is down from the peak and all that. Bernanke even suggested that had we tried QE in the 1930s, it might have solved the Great Depression.
Forbes | Bernanke Plus Obama Equals $5 Gas Post Election
Once there was an unwritten rule that the Federal Reserve would refrain from significant policy adjustments before an election. Few things are as encompassing to culture as our currency, or as vital that they be thought free of intrigues. With public confidence in the dollar diminished, or perturbed by politics, society suffers this dearth of trust in more than just finance.
Blogs
Daily Capitalist | Draghi Acts: Is It Inflationary?
The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to bailout its bankrupt members, mainly Italy and Spain, by buying their shorter-term bonds ( 1 to 3 years) with newly created money. The idea is to drive down their interest rates to alleviate their debt cost burden, and to send a message to the world (the financial markets) that they stand ready to back the euro.
