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...

Bernanke Sets High Threshold for Further Fed Action

By John Berry, The Fiscal Times

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed will consider making another large-scale purchase of securities if the slowing economy were to deteriorate significantly and signs of deflation were...
Deflation: Fears Mount, But We’re Not There Yet

By The Fiscal Times Staff

In the great debate over whether inflation or deflation is the bigger risk to the U.S. economy, the deflationists have seized the upper hand. Only months ago, the conventional wisdom was that massive...
Congress vs. Fed Independence: At Risk – Inflation

By Mark Thoma

The Federal Reserve’s ability to make independent policy decisions sets it apart from other government agencies. Why do we allow this departure from our usual democratic procedures? Why have we...
Stock Sell-off Endures as Bad News Bears Take the Lead

By Jennifer Depaul, The Fiscal Times

In the ongoing battle between the bulls and bears on Wall Street, the bears took the upper hand today, as investors focused on a new spate of bad economic news and the subtext of the Fed’s Tuesday’s...
Fed Announces Small Policy Shift to Spur Economy

By Edmund Andrews, The Fiscal Times

The Federal Reserve announced a cautious step Tuesday in an effort to address the problem of a stalling U.S. economic growth rate.

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