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...

Does Bernanke Really Have a Magic Bullet?

By Georgette Jasen The Fiscal Times, The Fiscal Times

Although stocks surged Tuesday in anticipation of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s speech Friday, most economists don’t expect him to announce a new round of quantitative easing.
Double Dip More Likely. Pressure on Fed Rises

By Michelle Hirsch, The Fiscal Times

A string of bad economic news Thursday sent markets plunging with a growing number of economists saying the economy is teetering on the brink of a double dip recession. The likelihood that the...
Geithner, Bernanke Run Out of Financial Choices

By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Neil Irwin, The Washington Post

Treasury secretary Tim Geithner and Fed chief Ben Bernanke don’t have the same tools and support they had when they faced the economic crisis in 2008.
Meet the Three FOMC Members who Defied Bernanke

By SIMONE FOXMAN, Business Insider

With three of the committee's twelve members dissenting, the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee's decision yesterday exposes the most divided Fed since 1992. Nouriel Roubini called the three...
No Light Ahead as Fed Holds Rates for Two More Years

By John Berry, The Fiscal Times

By vowing to keep its target overnight interest rates close to zero for the next two years, the Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday signaled its analysis that economic growth will remain paltry – and...

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