Category Archives: Federal Reserve

The People’s Money (Part 1)

An explanation of the Federal Reserve money system.

Long Term Real Interest Rates Fell Below Zero in all Euro Area Countries

Is praise of negative real interest rates in Europe making a virtue out of (mis)perceived necessity?

Mark Carney’s Trojan Unicorn — Are Central Banks Considering Stealth Nationalization in Sovereign Digital Currencies?

Mark Carney talks about digital soverign currencies. But is he really describing nationalization? And if so, whither the commercial banks?

The End of Super Imperialism?

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s proposal to invent to replace the US dollar as the key reserve currency with a “synthetic hegemonic currency.”

The Fed Has Not Covered Itself in Glory: Fed Funds Mess Edition

Why the Fed should be embarrassed.

Kalecki, Minsky, and “Old Keynesianism” Vs. “New Keynesianism” on the Effect of Monetary Policy

Larry Summers, a barometer of leading edge conventional wisdom, questions Keynesianism as a distortion of Keynes and for its overconfidence in monetary policy.

Marshall Auerback: We Are Clearly Living in a Bizarro Capitalism Era—And It’s Time to Change How the World Manages Economies

Central banks don’t have the tools to address our problems. It will take well-constructed fiscal policy to set right our topsy-turvy economy.

The Fed Thinks the US Economy Is Fine. Do You?

Seeking reader input on the health of their economy.

Michael Hudson: Why Frances Coppola’s “The Case for the People’s Quantitative Easing” Is for Banks, Not the People

A dubious proposal to continue over-reliance on monetary policy, this time with a quantitative easing scheme, instead of fiscal spending.

Trump Was [Selectively] Right About the Dollar

Turns out Trump was not all wrong in saying the dollar was overpriced.

Taxes for Revenue Are Obsolete

In a 1946 classic, New York Fed chairman Beardsley Ruml explains why taxes aren’t necessary for Federal spending and argues against corporate income taxes.

Martin Wolf v. Trumponomics Whiffs Due to Fealty to Orthodoxy

The Financial Times’ Martin Wolf has a go at Donald Trump, but manages to score an own goal as far as his profession is concerned.

The Global Capital Flows Cycle and Its Drivers: Not Only a US Monetary Policy Story

Financial shocks matter more than US monetary policy. Domestic policies may still mitigate the cycle of global capital flows at the country level.

Are Cryptocurrencies the First Crack in the Wall to Regulate Facebook?

Like Icarus, the social media monopoly is flying too close to the sun and generating much regulatory heat, which could eventually lead to its downfall.

Wolf Richter: Bring on Higher Oil Prices: They’ll Boost the US Economy. Powell Sees it Too. A New Experience for the US

The plunge in oil prices since August has caused the oil-and-gas sector to get skittish with capital expenditures this year, and Powell picked up on that. Investment in the US shale sector has a big impact on the real economy.