News
Bloomberg | Michigan Sentiment Index Unexpectedly Falls to One-Year Low
Consumer confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in January to a one-year low as higher payroll taxes began to take hold.
Bloomberg | Fed Adds $610 Million to Banking System With Five-Day Repos
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York temporarily added $610 million of reserves to the banking system with repurchase agreements as part of a program to test the central bank’s operational readiness.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Bank Reform Takes One Flawed Step Forward
The Financial Accounting Standards Board finished 2012 on a high note, issuing a draft new rule to change the way banks build reserves against losses on loans. It is a major step forward from our current system. Still, FASB's proposed rule is flawed conceptually and in its application, and in itself it cannot achieve the international consistency that is desirable.
Fortune | Fed official: Our bond-buying is potentially toxic
If interest rates were to suddenly rise to their historic levels, the Federal Reserve's investment portfolio could be doomed.
Washington Times | IMF chief Lagarde says U.S. must ‘pull together’
In her first major speech of the new year, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday called for “all sides to pull together” in Washington to solve the country’s debt and growth problems, saying the world’s leading economies must follow through on fiscal and market reforms to avoid slipping back into recession.
Blogs
WSJ | What a Fed Loss Might Look Like
One worry among Federal Reserve officials, divided over how long the central bank should stick with its bond-buying programs, is the possibility that the Fed could record a loss on its books.
