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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Money’
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 »
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 [...]
“Legal Tender” by Merle Hazard
Posted in Macroeconomics, tagged Humor, Money on June 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A quick history of money–from cigarettes to fiat currency–courtesy of Merle Hazard: Sung to the tune of “Love Me Tender” which turns out to have been based on the tune of “Aura Lee” from 1861. (There’s a gold joke in there somewhere.)


