Ending Fed stimulus could drag down the entire global economy
federal reserve
Household Debt Has Fallen to 2006 Levels, But Not Because We’ve Grown More Frugal
U.S. household debt has finally fallen back to pre-recession levels. So, we’ve finally learned our lesson about spending more than we make, right? Well, not really. The real reason our debt has dipped is that so many Americans …
Why Risk is Back in Fashion
Fed Chief Ben Bernanke’s strategy for making risk fashionable is gaining traction. Affluent investors are jumping off the sidelines and home prices are getting a lift. We’re not out of the woods by a long shot. But do you really …
When Central Bankers Attack: Why Ben and Company Can’t Save the Global Economy
New action by central banks around the world has cheered markets, but the boost will only be temporary
Too Much Candy: A Plain-and-Simple Way to Understand Quantitative Easing, Part 3
Listening to Ben Bernanke announcing the Fed’s decision to buy mortgage-backed bonds until hell freezes over, I’m reminded of a British cartoon character called Billy Bunter. Bunter was a portly schoolboy who made a point
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Bernanke Stands Pat: No New QE (For Now)
While most Americans have their minds squarely fixed on beach and barbecue plans this weekend, market participants had their eyes an ears affixed to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech this morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The …
Why It’s Time for Central Bankers to Say: ‘No More!’
Easy money and central-bank intervention are not the answers to the stumbling global recovery
Conflicts at the Regional Fed Banks Go Way Beyond Jamie Dimon
Some heavy-hitters are lobbying to get JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon to give up his seat on the board of the New York Federal Reserve. And he should — Dimon clearly wasn’t paying attention to the ABCs of banking risk. But if Dimon …
Battle of the Heavy-Hitter Economists: Krugman and Bernanke Slug It Out Over Fed Policy
The lackluster U.S. economic recovery has fueled an unusually public argument between two of the most prominent economists in the country: Nobel prize-winning New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has accused Fed Chairman Ben …
Spring Slowdown: Is the U.S. Economic Recovery Stalling?
The disappointing economic growth figures released Friday by the federal government have raised the possibility that the U.S. recovery might be stalling — just when it appeared poised to achieve “escape velocity,” in which gains …
Fed Inflation Hawks Warn More Stimulus Could Fuel Prices
Are inflation hawks preparing to take flight? That’s the sense one gets reading comments made by two U.S. central bank officials Tuesday, including Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, who said that corporate chiefs have been …
Bernanke: Fed Prevented ‘Meltdown’ But Was ‘Helpless’ to Save Lehman
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that U.S. government intervention during the financial crisis prevented a “total meltdown” in the U.S. economy that could have rivaled the Great Depression. In the third of four …