Why No Tea Parties in Europe?
“I’ve been doing a little reading this morning about the Greek crisis and related problems in Europe. One take, and it makes sense to me, is that many European countries have such low fertility rates that even with some degree of immigration, they simp …
READ MORERegulating the Financial Industry
Wednesday’s Washington Post featured a column by Steven Pearlstein that sums up the ongoing debate over the regulation of the financial industry, or at least it attempts to do so. As we all know, the collapse of the financial industry played a major ro …
READ MOREPut Housing GSEs in the Budget and then Privatize
“The two large housing government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been in government receivership since September 2008. The U.S. Treasury has given the housing GSEs $112 billion in cash infusions, and this past Christmas Eve it …
READ MORE“Four Biggest Greek Banks Downgraded”
“Fitch Ratings, citing concerns about Greek banks’ funding costs and profitability, downgraded the country’s four major banks to triple-B, or two notches above “junk” status. Fitch characterized its outlook for Greek banks as ‘negative’… The cost of …
READ MORE“Greenspan’s Monetary Policy in Retrospect”
“Critics charge Greenspan with having carried on an excessively expansionary monetary policy, particularly following the recession of 2001. They note how low interest rates were from 2002 through 2004 and argue that those low rates paved the way for ev …
READ MORESound Money Essay Winners!
The Atlas Sound Money Project is proud to announce the winners of its 2010 Atlas Sound Money Essay Contest. We are grateful for the carefully crafted, well-reasoned essays that we received from undergraduate and graduate students and young scholars fro …
READ MORE“The Fed’s Great Rate Debate”
“There are plenty of experts who argue that the Fed should move sooner rather than later to raise the federal funds rate, its key lending rate that is used as a benchmark for the interest paid on credit cards, home equity loans and many business loans. …
READ MOREThe Signals of the Fed
The Fed made what it claims is a minimal change in strategy today, as it raised the emergency loan rate today from 0.5%. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The Fed said the move wasn’t meant to affect monetary policy…” Yet in a realm as dependent u …
READ MOREWill Bernanke’s Exit Strategy Work?
“On Wednesday, February 10, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was expected to appear before the House Committee on Financial Services to testify on the Fed’s extraordinary measures taken during the financial crisis, and how the Fed is planning to u …
READ MORE“Japan’s Central Banker Rejects Setting Inflation Target”
“Inflation targeting has become a favored policy among many central banks world-wide, but the BOJ has resisted it, fearing Japan’s strong downward bias in prices would prevent the bank from ever raising interest rates. Instead it has relied on a softer …
READ MORE“The Gold Standard”
Lawrence H. White speaks to students attending FEE’s 2009 Young Scholars Colloquium at Northwood University. To see the full video, please go here. “The Gold Standard” Lawrence H. White Young Scholars Colloquium, July 16, 2009. Via the Foundation for E …
READ MORE“U.S. Expected to Press China on Yuan”
“The mounting political tension between U.S. and China is poised to take on a more pronounced economic component—with Washington, in coming months, expected to press China over what officials see as an undervalued yuan. This week, China is facing off w …
READ MORE
