Economy News

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Established 1999

New England, USA

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Central Banking

  • •

    Fed Monetary Dissident Thomas Hoenig

    Thomas Hoenig, a voting member of the Fed’s interest rate decision body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), has on several occasions expressed concerns about the direction of U.S. monetary policy. During the last year, he has been a lone voice of dissent at FOMC meetings. This weekend’s Wall Street Journal features an interview with…

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    Shining a Light on the Fed

    Much has been made recently of the plan to audit the Fed (here, here and here). It is a very interesting idea. Given the amount of money ($2 trillion) the Fed sent out in bailout loans, it makes sense that the taxpayers who funded it want to know where the money went. Given the Fed’s…

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    Will Congress ever reform the Fed?

    “This week’s Senate floor votes on the powers of the Federal Reserve caught my attention. Despite Congress’s bipartisan lashing of the Fed for its performance before and after the financial crisis of 2008, the Fed this week defeated two challenges to its autonomy as a central bank. Granted, Congress’s pummeling of the Fed (recall Bernanke’s…

  • •

    “Warning: Inflation May Be Harmful to Your Growth”

    “While few doubt that very high inflation is bad for growth, there is less agreement about the effects of moderate inflation. Using panel regressions and allowing for a nonlinear specification, this paper finds a statistically and economically significant negative relationship between inflation and growth, which holds robustly at all but the lowest inflation rates. A…

  • •

    “Economic Calculation and Monetary Stability”

    “My thesis will be that monetarists, while their criticism ofthe Fed’sthesis will be that monetarists, while their criticism ofthe Fed’s expansionist history has been most welcome and has been instrumental in the struggle against inflation, do not go far enough. In particular I will stress two issues which most monetarists have ignoredinstrumental in the struggle…

  • •

    “Who got Fed money during financial crises?”

    “A Senate vote Tuesday left no doubt: Congress wants to know more about what the Federal Reserve was up to when its asset portfolio grew by more than $1 trillion during the financial crisis. What companies did the Fed help, and on what terms? The Senate voted 96 to 0 for the Government Accountability Office…

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    Real Banking Reform? End the Federal Reserve

    “The next major question that needs to be asked is: How do they know? These are the same politicians whose time horizon goes no further than the next election day, and who pander to the special interest groups that provide them with the campaign contributions and the votes that keep them in office. And these…

  • •

    The Origins of the Federal Reserve

    “Where did this thing called the Fed come from? Murray Rothbard has the answer here — in phenomenal detail that will make your head spin. In one extended essay, one that reads like a detective story, he has put together the most comprehensive and fascinating account based on a century’s accumulation of scholarship. The conclusion…

  • •

    Lawrence H. White – What Type of Inflation Target?

    “For much of monetary history, inflation targeting was unnecessary. There was no need to worry about constraining the central bank’s inflationary proclivities because no central bank existed. The quantity of basic money was constrained by the mints’ commitment to full-bodied gold and silver coinage (at least where the mint-owners lacked monopoly status or chose not…

  • •

    “The Limits of Monetary Policy”

    “History has shown that monetary stability—money growth consistent with a stable and predictable value of money—is an important determinant of economic stability. Safeguarding the long-run purchasing power of money is also essential for the future of private property and a free society. In the United States, persistent inflation has eroded the value of money and…

  • •

    Fed Monetary Dissident Thomas Hoenig

    Thomas Hoenig, a voting member of the Fed’s interest rate decision body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), has on several occasions expressed concerns about the direction of U.S. monetary policy. During the last year, he has been a lone voice of dissent at FOMC meetings. This weekend’s Wall Street Journal features an interview with…

  • •

    Shining a Light on the Fed

    Much has been made recently of the plan to audit the Fed (here, here and here). It is a very interesting idea. Given the amount of money ($2 trillion) the Fed sent out in bailout loans, it makes sense that the taxpayers who funded it want to know where the money went. Given the Fed’s…

  • •

    Will Congress ever reform the Fed?

    “This week’s Senate floor votes on the powers of the Federal Reserve caught my attention. Despite Congress’s bipartisan lashing of the Fed for its performance before and after the financial crisis of 2008, the Fed this week defeated two challenges to its autonomy as a central bank. Granted, Congress’s pummeling of the Fed (recall Bernanke’s…

  • •

    “Warning: Inflation May Be Harmful to Your Growth”

    “While few doubt that very high inflation is bad for growth, there is less agreement about the effects of moderate inflation. Using panel regressions and allowing for a nonlinear specification, this paper finds a statistically and economically significant negative relationship between inflation and growth, which holds robustly at all but the lowest inflation rates. A…

  • •

    “Economic Calculation and Monetary Stability”

    “My thesis will be that monetarists, while their criticism ofthe Fed’sthesis will be that monetarists, while their criticism ofthe Fed’s expansionist history has been most welcome and has been instrumental in the struggle against inflation, do not go far enough. In particular I will stress two issues which most monetarists have ignoredinstrumental in the struggle…

  • •

    “Who got Fed money during financial crises?”

    “A Senate vote Tuesday left no doubt: Congress wants to know more about what the Federal Reserve was up to when its asset portfolio grew by more than $1 trillion during the financial crisis. What companies did the Fed help, and on what terms? The Senate voted 96 to 0 for the Government Accountability Office…

  • •

    Real Banking Reform? End the Federal Reserve

    “The next major question that needs to be asked is: How do they know? These are the same politicians whose time horizon goes no further than the next election day, and who pander to the special interest groups that provide them with the campaign contributions and the votes that keep them in office. And these…

  • •

    The Origins of the Federal Reserve

    “Where did this thing called the Fed come from? Murray Rothbard has the answer here — in phenomenal detail that will make your head spin. In one extended essay, one that reads like a detective story, he has put together the most comprehensive and fascinating account based on a century’s accumulation of scholarship. The conclusion…

  • •

    Lawrence H. White – What Type of Inflation Target?

    “For much of monetary history, inflation targeting was unnecessary. There was no need to worry about constraining the central bank’s inflationary proclivities because no central bank existed. The quantity of basic money was constrained by the mints’ commitment to full-bodied gold and silver coinage (at least where the mint-owners lacked monopoly status or chose not…

  • •

    “The Limits of Monetary Policy”

    “History has shown that monetary stability—money growth consistent with a stable and predictable value of money—is an important determinant of economic stability. Safeguarding the long-run purchasing power of money is also essential for the future of private property and a free society. In the United States, persistent inflation has eroded the value of money and…