News
Bloomberg | IMF Urges U.S. Congress to Find Agreement to Avoid Shutdown
The International Monetary Fund urged U.S. lawmakers to quickly find a fiscal agreement to avoid a federal government shutdown and raise its $16.7 trillion borrowing limit.
Bloomberg | Inflation Expectations Drop to Lowest Since 2010, JPMorgan Says
Investor expectations for U.S. inflation have declined to the lowest in more than three years even as data point to economic recovery, JPMorgan Chase & Co., said, citing surveys.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CNBC | The Fed's 'hidden agenda' behind money-printing
The markets were surprised when the Federal Reserve did not announce a tapering of the quantitative easing bond buying program at its September meeting. Indeed, its signal to the market that it was keeping interest rates low was welcome, but there may be a hidden agenda.
Bloomberg | Deciphering Some Mumbo Jumbo by the Fed
“The tightening of financial conditions observed in recent months, if sustained, could slow the pace of improvement in the economy and the labor market.” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Sept. 18
FOX Business | Fed's Stein: More Predictability Needed About Taper
The Federal Reserve should make itself more predictable about scaling back its massive bond buying campaign, a top U.S. central banker said on Thursday, acknowledging that it had confused markets by not tapering at its meeting last week.
Mercatus | The FSOC's Latest Careless Too Big to Fail Decision
Last week the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated Prudential Financial as a systemically important financial institution in need of regulation by the Federal Reserve. The FSOC's careless decision to slap a too-big-to-fail label on Prudential undermines-rather than secures-financial stability.
AEI | Dodd-Frank's costs will be paid for by low-income bank customers
The fifth anniversary of the financial crisis has come and gone. There was much discussion about safety and soundness of big banks and progress of new safeguards, such as the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). There was shockingly little discussion about how consumers have fared.
Blogs
Economist | The "setting the mood" approach to monetary policy
A colleague emailed me a Reuters story noting that, according to polling, the vast majority of Americans have no idea what quantitative easing is. This is a result I find neither surprising nor discouraging; surely the public has better things to do than learn about QE. At any rate, the colleague shared the story as part of an ongoing discussion about just how central bank expectations-setting works. I dashed off some thoughts back to him in an email, and I thought I may as well share them with the internet. Begin communication.
