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Greenspan Delivers Positive Economic Assessment.  "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday the economy has 'regained some traction' after a late spring slowdown that was triggered by a sharp spike in oil prices. Greenspan's moderately upbeat forecast was likely to cement expectations that the central bank will raise interest rates for a third time when Fed policy-makers meet in two weeks. In testimony prepared for the House Budget Committee, Greenspan said that two key indicators, consumer spending and housing construction, bounced back in July after a weak performance in June."  (Martin Crutsinger, "Greenspan Says Economy Has Regained Some Traction," The...

In the second tightening of US monetary policy since May of 2000, Alan Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal Funds Rate target 25 basis points to 1.50%, as expected. More...

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) said Wednesday that President Bush (news - web sites)'s three rounds of tax cuts prevented a severe recession and helped spark the current economic recovery. But he warned that Congress must pay attention to the long-term consequences of its spending and tax decisions in order to keep rising budget deficits from harming the country's growth potential. Greenspan said that "what we are missing is a process, a long-term outlook" of the impact of spending and tax decisions on the budget. "We need a mechanism which...

In the first tightening of US monetary policy since May of 2000, Alan Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal Funds Rate target, from its 46 year low, 25 basis points to 1.25%. More...

Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, on Tuesday indicated that interest rates might have to rise faster than expected to keep inflationary pressures under control. Speaking from Washington via satellite link to a conference in London, Mr Greenspan said he remained confident that the Fed could afford to remove monetary stimulus from the US economy gradually but that he was ready to take stronger action if necessary. Although the reaction in financial markets was muted, economists said the comments marked a significant shift in Fed rhetoric, with inflation starting to take center stage. "The [Fed's] committee is of...

Today the President met with Alan Greenspan, and sent his nomination to the U.S. Senate to reappoint him as Federal Reserve Board Chairman. In the Oval office, he also signed an executive order establishing the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force.He later went to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee luncheon to deliver remarks about American’s firm support for Israel, and for two peacefully coexisting states in the Middle East, and also his strong resolve to stay the course in Iraq.Today Laura traveled to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to speak at a fundraiser for congressional candidate, Larry Diedrich. Enjoy your trip...

In a future remake of "The Graduate," the phrase replacing "plastics" to be whispered in the ear of the title role is "hedge funds." That's where the action is. The number of such unregulated collections of capital has doubled in the last five years to 8,000. Managers make 20 percent of any profits, and if they bet wrong, simply close up the fund, distribute what's left and start a new one; the liquidation rate is about one-fourth every year. That's why so many of the hottest Wall Streeters are joining the stampede into managing these high-end mutual funds. Because hedge...

WASHINGTON (AP) _The Federal Reserve knocked down a rumor swirling in financial markets Wednesday that chairman Alan Greenspan had suffered a heart attack. ``There is no truth to the rumor. The chairman is fine,'' said Michelle Smith, spokeswoman for the Federal Reserve. Greenspan, who recently turned 78, has been chief of the Federal Reserve since August 1987. He is often described as the second-most important person in Washington because his comments can move financial markets and because of his lead role in setting interest rate policy in the United States, the world's largest economy. Rumors that Greenspan was having health...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve (news - web sites) on Wednesday declined to comment on a market rumor that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) had had a mild heart attack. "The Fed does not comment on market rumors," Fed spokesman Andrew Williams said. The rumor about the central bank chief led to a decline in the value of the dollar against the euro.

SEATTLE - Get ready to bend over, baby-boomers. In essence, that was Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's message to everyone born between 1946 and 1964. At 78 years of age, Greenspan's too old to bend over himself, so he figures it should be my generation that grabs its ankles. Seems Alan G. is wringing his wrinkled hands over the 77 million baby boomers that'll begin retirement in four short years. 'Yikes!' said the man who surely collects his Social Security check every month, 'We've gotta do something 'cause there's not enough Social Security money to give us any security.' And...

Who are the G7 finance ministers? Posted: February 10, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Joan Veon© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com BOCA RATON, Fla. – To most people the G7 finance ministers are just a bunch of guys who get together throughout the year and talk over the economy, but it is not just the U.S. economy – it is the global economy. In order to understand their position of power, we must go back to August 1971 when President Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard. The Group of Seven first met in 1973, two years after Nixon severed the last attachment the dollar...

Inflation is a recurrent theme at this site. The US government now reports the inflation rate at 2%. Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve says he is worried about deflation. Yet, gold has hit the $400 mark and anyone alive in the US knows that each month’s shopping bill is larger than the previous month’s. How can there be no inflation? A quick look at the government’s sleight of hand unmasks the chicanery. The government calculates the inflation rate as: the difference between 1) the ‘nominal’ growth ingross domestic product (GDP) which is what is actually measured and 2)...

Despite a strengthening economic expansion, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Thursday indicated the central bank will remain slow to raise interest rates. In his first extensive remarks on the economy since July, Mr. Greenspan acknowledged growth has "accelerated" in recent months. But he said, unlike the previous half century, inflation, at about 1%, has met the Fed's goal of price stability. As a result, "monetary policy is able to be more patient" than in previous expansions. In his remarks by satellite to the Securities Industry Association, he didn't say interest rates could stay low for a "considerable period." He...

This week we are going to examine in some detail Alan Greenspan's speech given today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was working on an entirely different letter when this speech hit my inbox. I think it is so important that I am going to start over in the middle of a letter, which I cannot remember ever doing. For better or worse, Alan Greenspan is one of the most important men in the world. His views matter and are taken quite seriously by the market. This is one of Greenspan's more significant speeches (it may come to be seen as...

I recently had an opportunity to hear testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan at a hearing of the Joint Economic committee. I always relish the opportunity to question Mr. Greenspan at such hearings, because I disagree so strongly with Fed policies. Mr. Greenspan is a remarkable man, with a background as a devotee of novelist Ayn Rand, a supporter of the gold standard, and a fervent advocate of capitalism. So I’m at a loss to explain his metamorphosis into a believer in fiat currency and centralized economic planning. Of course capitalism is based on the premise that centralized economic...

No one in the hard money community today disputes that the Federal Reserve is the source of many of our economic woes. Where disagreement arises is in defining the precise nature of the Fed and the source of its capacity to create the harm it does. Many who support gold money and free enterprise claim that the Federal Reserve is a "private entity" run by capitalist mega-financiers. This I believe to be mistaken. I wrote in my recent article, "The Ark of Freedom," that the Federal Reserve is NOT a private banking system. It is a government-run fascist cartel. This...

What is the Federal Reserve System? The Federal Reserve System, also known as the Fed, is the central bank of the United States. It was created by the Congress with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central, governmental agency--the Board of Governors--in Washington, D.C., and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the nation. What are the Federal Reserve's responsibilities? The Federal Reserve System was chartered in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. Over the...

In his testimony to the Joint Economic Committee on May 21st, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan, said that the Fed views deflation as a potential threat to the economy. For the time being, however, the Fed Chairman believes that the likelihood of deflation is not very high. Moreover, if deflation were to strike, Greenspan has assured us that the U.S. central bank has all the necessary means to tackle this phenomenon. Also, according to most experts on the present paper standard, as opposed to the gold standard, deflation can be easily countered by central bank monetary...

Inflation is our friend, says Fed Bill Jamieson EXACTLY what game is Alan Greenspan playing? Or is he too frightened to tell us? Last week the Federal Reserve that he chairs catalysed an anxious debate across America and the markets that the world’s biggest economy could be heading for deflation. This is quite the nastiest word in central bank parlance and immediately conjures up the spectre that Japan’s disease could be spreading world wide. The Fed’s Open Markets Committee left interest rates unchanged at 1.25%. But this was instantly overshadowed by what some have hailed as the most important statement,...

<p>In a surprising, but most welcome announcement, President Bush told a group of financial reporters Tuesday that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan "should get another term."</p> <p>The announcement was surprising for two reasons. First, Mr. Greenspan's current four-year term as chairman, which is his fourth, doesn't expire until June 20, 2004, 14 months from now. Second, various "senior administration officials" have recently been quoted in the press — always anonymously, of course — strongly hinting that Mr. Greenspan's failure to fully embrace the White House's tax-relief plan during congressional testimony in February had damaged, and perhaps destroyed, his chances for reappointment. Well, nobody in the White House is more "senior" than Mr. Bush. The president has now clearly demonstrated that total fealty to White House policy is not the sine qua non qualification for continued service as a powerful federal policy-maker. And outside the Oval Office, no federal official is as powerful as the chairman of the Fed.</p>