News
Bloomberg | Bubble States Underemployment Rates Haunt Yellen
Residents of the U.S. states that suffered the steepest home price declines and record foreclosures face labor markets that remain impaired five years after the most severe recession since the 1930s ended.
WSJ | Fed Officials Tussle Over Labor Market Slack
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen has argued consistently in recent months that labor markets are abundant with slack that will hold inflation and wages down. But she hasn't convinced all her colleagues.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Fed's Blueprint for Financial Control
Much of the financial world hangs on Janet Yellen's every word, looking for policy portents in language that is crafted to be circumspect about the central bank's plans. A more useful place to look for guidance on regulation of the financial system is Daniel Tarullo, a Federal Reserve Board governor and its point man for banking reform. Mr. Tarullo gave a speech in Chicago on May 8 that was as unsettling as it was, by the Fed's inscrutable standards, unguarded.
Bloomberg | Ikea Economics Lure Central Bankers Seeking New Tools
Sweden invented the central bank, establishing the Riksbank in 1668 after the public lost confidence in the paper money produced by Stockholms Banco. Bank-rescue strategies in the 1990s and efforts to improve central-bank communications through forward guidance taught lessons to first responders in the recent global financial crisis.
CATO | Don’t be Fooled by Taper Talk
Since last June, most thought the U.S. Federal Reserve’s so-called taper was just around the corner. Well, the Fed’s large-scale asset purchasers did finally begin to take action, but they did so later than most anticipated. It now appears that the door will close on the Fed’s massive asset purchase program late this year.
