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...

Dodd-Frank Works! But Then The Trouble Begins

By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

The Bipartisan Policy Center recently organized a simulation of what would happen under the Dodd-Frank financial services reform legislation if a bank “too big to fail” was about to go under. An all-...
Federal Reserve Wraps up Policy Meeting

By Martin Crutsinger

The Federal Reserve, after employing a dwindling set of policy options at its last two meetings, may hit the pause button in hopes that the faint signs of the economy's rebound will grow stronger. By...
Fear, Frustration, and Division at the Fed

By John Berry, The Fiscal Times

As Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke began a two-day policymaking session yesterday, he and his colleagues were split over what, if anything, they should do to bring down a jobless rate of over 9 percent...
SOS! As the Dollar Sinks, So Goes the Recovery

By Liz Peek

Mayday! The dollar is under attack. Last week’s big news was that the dollar had dropped to a post-war low against the yen . Imagine: the dollar traded lower against the yen, at Y75.31, than it has...
Bernanke Hangs Tough on Financial Reform

By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke used a major address in Boston to defend the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul legislation from mounting attacks by Republican presidential candidates and lawmakers threatening...

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