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...

Cuomo Shows Obama How to Cut a Budget—and Pass it

By Yuval Rosenberg

Andrew Cuomo was able to deliver a tough 2012 budget agreement for New York, while President Obama and Congress are still clashing over the 2011 federal budget, with the prospect of a government...
Discord at the Fed Has Bernanke Out on a Limb

By James C. Cooper, The Fiscal Times

There’s growing dissent among Federal Reserve officials about QE2 and the risk of keeping interest rates too low for too long.
Inflation Ahead? The Fed May Raise Interest Rates

By James C. Cooper, The Fiscal Times

Core inflation jumped to 1.1 percent from 0.6 percent in October. Wholesale inflation for core consumer goods has risen to 2.6 percent . Inflation for imported goods other than fuels is up to 3.6...
Why Politics, Ideology and the Fed Don’t Mix

By Mark Thoma

As anyone who follows the Central Bank knows, President Obama’s nomination of Nobel Prize winning economist Peter Diamond to fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors is being held...
Bernanke Downplays Impact of $61 Billion in Cuts

By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, downplayed the economic impact of the $61 billion of spending cuts sought by House Republicans during an appearance on the Hill on Tuesday. He said the...

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