Federal Reserve Archive

What Ever Happened To Thrift?

The people who created this country built a moral structure around money. The Puritan legacy inhibited luxury and self-indulgence. Benjamin Franklin spread a practical gospel that emphasized hard work, temperance and frugality. Millions of parents, ...
Posted by Greg Feirman  ·  No Comments »

Bernanke Continues To Jawbone About Inflation

Moreover, the latest round of increases in energy prices has added to the upside risks to inflation and inflation expectations.  The Federal Open Market Committee will strongly resist an erosion of longer-term inflation expectations, as ...
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Front Page WSJ Article On Bernanke’s Speech Yesterday

June 4, 2008  ·  Category: Federal Reserve, Foreign Exchange, Inflation
[Chairman Bernanke] went today where no other Fed chairman has gone in my 20 years of doing this.  He dove into the deep end of the dollar policy pool. - David Gilmore (subscription required), Foreign Exchange Analytics As ...
Posted by Greg Feirman  ·  2 Comments »

Bernanke Talks Up The Dollar

In collaboration with our colleagues at the Treasury, we continue to carefully monitor developments in foreign exchange markets.  The challenges that our economy has faced over the past year or so have generated some downward ...
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Why Yesterdays Rally Is Happening Today

May 1, 2008  ·  Category: Market Commentary, Federal Reserve
Whenever the Fed says or does something that is subsequently misinterpreted, they have a few back door methods to correct the error. Two in particular were used fairly regularly. Call it the Fed edit/correction methodology. When ...
Posted by Greg Feirman  ·  3 Comments »

Two Decades Of Easy Money

April 30, 2008  ·  Category: Macro Economics, Federal Reserve
Do we have the wit and the wisdom to restore an environment of price stability without impairing economic stability? Should we fail, I fear the distortions and uncertainty generated by inflation itself will greatly extend ...
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Bernanke Plays It Safe

April 30, 2008  ·  Category: Market Commentary, Federal Reserve
Today's FOMC decision is kind of a dud.  They played it pretty much as safe as they could: they cut 25, as everyone was expecting, and they made only very, very slight adjustment to the ...
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Bulls Have Eye Of The Tiger Ahead Of Fed

Risin up, back on the street Did my time, took my chances Went the distance now I'm back on my feet Just a man and his will to survive Its the eye of the tiger, Its the thrill of the ...
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The Front Page WSJ Article That’s Driving Todays Trading

April 24, 2008  ·  Category: Market Commentary, Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve is likely to cut its short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point next week -- but then may be ready for a breather. - Greg Ip, "Fed May Consider Pause ...
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Second Guessing The Maestro: Greenspan’s Reputation Under Fire

Indeed, recent research within the Federal Reserve suggests that many homeowners might have saved tens of thousands of dollars had they held adjustable-rate mortgages rather than fixed-rate mortgages during the past decade, though this would ...
Posted by Greg Feirman  ·  No Comments »