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...

The Fed, Elections and the Markets: Investors Beware

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Bullish investors are pumping money into the markets, but they could get an unpleasant surprise if they guess wrong about the midterms and the Fed.
QE2 — The Fed’s Plan for Job Growth Could Backfire

By James C. Cooper, The Fiscal Times

• The Fed appears set to buy $500 billion to $1 trillion in Treasury notes • Expectations have boosted stock prices by about 10 percent • Banks hold $1 trillion in excess reserves, instead of making...
Job Openings are Up 34%, but Few Qualify

By James C. Cooper, The Fiscal Times

• Job openings are up 34 percent, but hiring only 4 percent. • 30.1 percent of unemployed have been out of work a year or more. • Demand for U.S. output remains 2 percent below its pre-recession peak...
TARP Redux: Voters Cry Foul as Banks Rake It in

By Eric Schurenberg, The Fiscal Times

A week ago Sunday, the Troubled Asset Relief Program became history. This Sunday, Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner wrote his draft of that history in a Washington Post editorial : “Born at the...
Bankers Break 2009 Bonus Record: $144 Billion

By Edmund Andrews, The Fiscal Times

Wall Street bankers are expected to take home $144 billion this year, just two years after the big banks were bailed out by the federal government.

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