The Fed’s quantitative easing programs did indeed lower interest rates, but more so for Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities than for other kinds of debt. Small businesses are overrated as job creators. Extended unemployment insurance does increase unemployment rates, but not that much. Those are just a few of the findings from papers presented today at [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Federal Reserve’
Unemployment, Small Business, Quantitative Easing, and More
Posted in Economy, International, Macroeconomics, tagged Federal Reserve, Macroeconomics, Monetary Policy, Small Business, Sweden, unemployment on September 15, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Raise the Debt Ceiling Rap
Posted in Budget, Macroeconomics, tagged Budget, Debt, Debt Limit, Federal Reserve, Humor, Macroeconomics on July 26, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Today’s humor break: Remy does the Debt Ceiling Rap (with some asides about monetary policy): Best line: “I got a monetary plan, and it involves a lot of toner.”
Fedspeak on Quantitative Accommodation
Posted in Macroeconomics, tagged Federal Reserve, Macroeconomics, Monetary Policy on July 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In case you haven’t heard of him, let me introduce Brian Sack. As Executive Vice President at the New York Fed, he’s the guy in charge of implementing the Federal Reserves’s monetary policy efforts including all the purchases of agency securities and Treasury bonds in QE1 and QE2 (LSAP1 and LSAP2 in Fedspeak, where they are known as large-scale asset purchases). Sack [...]
How Will Quantitative Tightening Work?
Posted in Macroeconomics, tagged Federal Reserve, Macroeconomics, Treasury on July 12, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The Fed’s second round of quantitative easing ended in late June. That means we are now in a period of quantitative accommodation. The Fed continues to hold a hefty portfolio of mortgage-backed securities and longer-term Treasuries — thus providing continued, unconventional monetary stimulus — but it’s not adding more. At the FOMC’s June 21-22 meeting, the [...]
If QE2 Is Over, Does That Mean QA2 Just Started?
Posted in Macroeconomics, tagged Federal Reserve, Monetary Policy, Treasury on July 1, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Everyone has been writing epitaphs for the “end” of QE2, the Federal Reserve’s program to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds. In a narrow sense, they are right: the Fed just completed those purchases. What most coverage misses, however, is that the effects of “quantitive easing” depend at least as much on the Fed’s owning [...]
Federal Reserve Earned $81 Billion in 2010
Posted in Budget, Finance, Macroeconomics, tagged Budget, Federal Reserve, Finance on January 11, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The Federal Reserve system is doing its part to cut the budget deficit. The central bank earned $81 billion in fiscal 2010, of which a bit more than $78 billion will be remitted to the Treasury. That’s $31 billion more than last year. According to the Fed’s news release yesterday, the following items drove profits: $76.2 billion [...]
Is Housing Messing Up Inflation Measures? Yes, But …
Posted in Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Economy, Federal Reserve, Housing, Inflation, Macroeconomics, Money on November 28, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Here’s the simplest argument in favor of the Fed’s decision to restart quantitative easing: The economy remains very weak. Unemployment, for example, is still almost 10%, and the underemployment rate is close to 17%. Key inflation measures are exceptionally low. The core consumer price index (CPI), for example, is up only 0.6% over the past [...]
Quantitative Easing, Trading, and the Viral Bunnies
Posted in Macroeconomics, tagged Federal Reserve, Humor, Macroeconomics, Money on November 20, 2010 | 6 Comments »
When Ben Bernanke and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve announced their plan for $600 billion in new quantitative easing, I am sure they expected criticism. Angela Merkel? No surprise. Hu Jintao? Ditto. Domestic inflation hawks? Ditto again. But could the Fed have anticipated that its most vocal critics would be a pair of talking [...]
Quantitative Easin’
Posted in Macroeconomics, tagged Federal Reserve, Humor on November 1, 2010 | 1 Comment »
In the style of Barry White, Curtis Threadneedle considers the Fed’s expected Wednesday move: Money quote (so to speak): “Lending short term–baby, that’s just teasing–I want to lend forever.” P.S. If this reminds you of Merle Hazard, it should. Merle and Curtis are buddies.
How Blurry is the Line between Monetary and Fiscal Policy?
Posted in Budget, Macroeconomics, tagged AIG, Bank of, Budget, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac on June 2, 2010 | 7 Comments »
Economists have traditionally drawn a sharp distinction between monetary and fiscal policy. Monetary policy should try to promote growth and limit inflation by setting short-term interest rates, managing the money supply, and providing liquidity during times of financial stress. Fiscal policy should also encourage growth and, more broadly, promote the general welfare through careful choices [...]
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