Topic: Central Banking

“In a Sluggish Economic Summer, No Easy Fix Ahead”

– August 13, 2010

“Typically, the Fed can lower interest rates to encourage Americans to borrow money and spend it, invigorating the economy. But the benchmark interest rate controlled by the Fed has been almost zero for more than a year now. The Fed this week took a ne …

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“Fed Official Warns of Starting a Cycle of Boom and Bust”

– August 13, 2010

“In a sharply worded dissent to the Federal Reserve’s decision to help ease the supply of credit to the economy, a member of the Fed committee that sets interest rates said Friday that the central bank’s monetary strategy could backfire and touch off a …

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Europe Jumps Off the Keynesian Bus — WSJ

– August 12, 2010

By ALLAN H. MELTZER — President Obama is the victim of bad advice and misinformation. From his advisers, the Democratic caucus and the New York Times, he hears that markets have failed and the country needs more government spending to increase consume …

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Monetary Policy and Productivity

– August 11, 2010

“This relationship holds, I believe, because low inflation tends to focus people’s attention on productive investments at the same time it promotes confidence by delivering stability, while high inflation tends to encourage speculative investments and …

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“Fed Economic Outlook Sends Investors to Gold”

– August 11, 2010

“The Fed’s commitment to maintaining liquidity and its deteriorating growth outlook are broadly speaking bullish for gold,” said Standard Bank analyst Leon Westgate. Gold is often seen as a stronger store of value than equities and other commodities in …

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Deflation and Liberty

– August 11, 2010

“The link between the paper dollar and the exponential expansion of public debt is well known. From the point of view of the creditors, the federal government controls the Federal Reserve—the monopoly producer of paper dollars—and it can therefore neve …

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“The High Costs of Very Low Interest Rates”

– August 11, 2010

“The prevailing view among economists, policy makers and Federal Reserve Board governors is that a zero or near-zero short-term interest rate stimulates the economy—the lower the rate, the better. It is time to re-examine this conventional wisdom. In f …

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“Gold Is Steady Ahead of Fed”

– August 9, 2010

“Spot gold was mostly flat early Monday in a quiet start to the week, as market participants await the Federal Reserve meeting Tuesday. Analysts said they expected the Fed’s comments this week to indirectly boost gold.” Read more. “Gold Is Steady Ahead …

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“Senate Rejection of Fed Nominees Slows White House Plan”

– August 6, 2010

“The Obama administration’s effort to fill every vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board is running into more trouble than expected after Senate leaders returned Peter A. Diamond’s nomination to the White House late Thursday. The move means President Obam …

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“Dollar Near Eight-Month Low”

– August 4, 2010

“The dollar traded near an eight-month low against the yen on speculation the Federal Reserve will take more credit easing measures to revive its flagging economic recovery, diminishing the appeal of U.S. assets. The greenback was close to its lowest l …

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“Federal Reserve Information and the Behavior of Interest Rates”

– August 4, 2010

“This paper tests for the existence of asymmetric information between the Federal Reserve and the public by examining Federal Reserve and commercial inflation forecasts. It demonstrates that the Federal Reserve has considerable information about inflat …

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The Money Debate

– August 4, 2010

In the battle of ideologies, the libertarian always faces certain disadvantages. The foundation is, as the name implies, liberty. Yet there is no strict use towards which “liberty” can be put. It is a somewhat amorphous idea, and context changes its me …

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