The Fed and Treasury

Will Trump Try to ‘Overrule’ Monetary Policy?

By Mark Thoma

How will the Federal Reserve evolve during Donald Trump’s term as president? Presently, three of the seven positions on the Federal Reserve Board are vacant. These vacancies, along with the...
Why the Treasury Is Ending a Low-Income Retirement Saving Program

By Beth Braverman

Less than two years after the Obama administration rolled out a myRA, a savings program aimed at helping the millions of Americans without access to a retirement account through work, the Trump...
Will Janet Yellen Give Wall Street a Scare?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For years, the Federal Reserve has been unable to convince the market it's serious about aggressively tightening policy. Janet Yellen and her cohorts have been guilty of "crying wolf," constantly...
Is the Fed About to Wage War on the Rich?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For years, stocks have been driven relentlessly higher thanks to a single statement that summarized the aggressive central bank largesse since the eurozone crisis flared up in 2012: Policymakers...
Is the Fed Fighting the Trump Rally?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

The evidence is growing that the Federal Reserve’s policymakers are actively working to lean against the stock market's rise, a dramatic reversal from the years of policy support stock market bulls...

The Fed’s Big Mistake: Rate Hikes Hurt US Workers

By David Dayen

Protesters rallied in Washington, New York City and Philadelphia yesterday against an imminent government action that would damage the financial prospects of ordinary workers. And no, it had nothing...
The Fed, the Reality of Tax Cuts, and Donald Trump

By Mark Thoma

For many years, Republicans argued that tax cuts for the wealthy pay for themselves. Cutting taxes on the wealthy, according to Republicans, allows them to keep a larger share of anything new they...
Will Unwinding the Fed’s $4.5 Trillion Balance Sheet Kill the Bull Market?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

Over the last decade, investors have grown accustomed to a Federal Reserve that constantly coddled them, allayed their fears and did everything possible to support the financial markets and asset...
The Key to This Market: Here’s What Will Determine if Stocks Rise or Fall

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For now, instead of putting pressure on risk assets, the Fed's newfound hawkishness is bolstering the reflation trade by lifting the dollar higher and attracting global capital into U.S. assets. Same...
Can Wall Street Handle Higher Interest Rates?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

The Federal Reserve just raised interest rates for the second time in three months, signaling a dramatic quickening of its prior pace. For the first time in more than a decade, Fed policymakers are...

Fed Launches New Round of Mortgage Bond Purchases

By Zachary A Goldfarb, The Washington Post

The Federal Reserve on Thursday opened a major new offensive in the battle to reduce unemployment, launching its most extensive effort to stimulate the economy in years. The Fed announced a new round...
The Fed Launches QE3: Winners and Losers

By Suzanne McGee, The Fiscal Times

The Federal Reserve’s announcement – as widely anticipated as yesterday’s unveiling of Apple’s new iPhone – that it would step into the breach once more and begin an open-ended bond-buying program in...
$104 Million IRS Whistleblower Payout: A Bargain?

By Yuval Rosenberg

The case of Bradley Birkenfeld is about much more than one man’s sudden wealth, or one whistleblower going from the penitentiary to the metaphorical penthouse. Its significance goes far beyond one...
Wall St. Analysts Say Stocks Ready for a Pullback

By Edward Krudy, Reuters

At the start of the historically weakest month for equities there are plenty of reasons to believe stocks may be just about reaching a top — at least in the short term. The S&P 500 has surged 14...
The Fed's Real Fear--Losing Its Independence

By PEDRO NICOLACI DA COSTA, Reuters

Increasing political encroachment on the Federal Reserve, particularly from the Republican Party, could threaten the central bank's hard-won independence and undermine confidence in the nearly 100-...

Search form