http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/federalreserve/ en-us Sat, 5 Jul 2008 19:29:15 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041192/posts How did the U.S. financial crisis happen? A review of the road to ruin reveals a course littered with more villains than heroes. No, it’s not the Great Depression, but the United States is facing a nasty economy-wide retrenchment following the excesses of the 2000s, with no easy way to dance through it. Think 1979 to 1982, when then U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker exorcised consumer price inflation from the economy. The difference today is that the inflationary explosion has been absorbed by prices of assets—houses, stocks and bonds, office buildings—rather than by the prices of things you buy... Foreign Policy http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041192/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 19:29:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040208/posts LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The European Central Bank on Thursday made good on a threat to hike its key interest rate for the first time in 13 months in a bid to tamp down inflation expectations. The ECB announced it had boosted its key lending rate by 25 basis points, or a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.25%. Attention turns now to ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet's monthly news conference at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The move came after Trichet repeatedly sounded warnings that commodity-led inflation pressures raised the danger of feeding a wage-price spiral. Markets currently see strong odds the ECB... MarketWatch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040208/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 13:14:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038662/posts The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday that it has extended a $28.82 billion loan to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for the acquisition of Bear Stearns. "Total credit extended by the New York Fed is lower than originally anticipated as a result of an extensive review of the portfolio," the New York Fed said in a statement on its Web site. In addition, JPMorgan has extended a $1.15 billion loan to a Delaware limited liability company (LLC), the statement said. The LLC, which will be consolidated on the books of the New York... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038662/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:36:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036157/posts Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may soon face a delicate challenge in steering monetary policy as the Fed's interest-rate-setting committee shrinks. An impasse between Senate Democrats and the Bush administration is about to leave three vacancies on the Federal Open Market Committee for the first time since its existing structure was established in 1935. That could tilt influence on the panel toward presidents of the Fed's regional banks. Those five presidents, unlike the seven Washington-based governors on the 12-person FOMC, aren't appointed by the president or confirmed by the Senate. In recent months, several presidents have been garnering heightened attention... The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036157/posts#comment Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:59:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035594/posts Forget the housing collapse, the “credit crunch” and—in isolation—higher oil prices. The real economic menace may be resurgent inflation, which is the broad rise of most prices. To understand why, some history helps. The government’s worst domestic blunder since World War II was the unleashing of high inflation: In 1960, annual inflation was 1.4 percent; by 1979, it was 13.3 percent. This terrified Americans, who feared falling living standards. It also destabilized the economy, causing harsher recessions that culminated with 10.8 percent unemployment in 1982. We don’t want to go there again, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been... Primetime Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035594/posts#comment Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:00:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033351/posts Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. plans to call today for the Federal Reserve to be given new, explicit powers to intervene in the workings of Wall Street firms to protect the financial system, adapting his vision of how the financial world should be regulated to reflect the lessons of the collapse of Bear Stearns. "Our nation has come to expect the Federal Reserve to step in to avert events that pose unacceptable systemic risk," Paulson plans to say in a speech today, according to prepared remarks obtained by The Washington Post. But the central bank "has neither the clear... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033351/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:10:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031875/posts The New York Federal Reserve's closed-door rule making with top players in the massive $60 trillion credit default swaps market came under legal fire on Sunday, as a fair finance activist filed a complaint questioning why it was done in the dark. "The Federal Reserve seems to think it can engage in rule making in secret only with the industry," said Matthew Lee, executive director of the New York-based non-profit group Inner City Press/Community on the Move. Lee filed the administrative complaint on Sunday with both the New York Fed and the Federal Reserve Board in Washington. In the complaint,... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031875/posts#comment Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:17:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029637/posts The Downfall of America’s Economy by: Ben Giles, June 11, 2008 If Jörg Guido Hülsmann wrote a letter to U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, it might sound something like this: “Your entire monetary policy is going to crash and burn in the next 30 years.” In an article titled “What Causes Moral Hazard,” Hülsmann argues that the American economy is creating a financial bubble that could soon burst. It’s all thanks to moral hazard, the prospect of poor financial decisions being made in the economy due to negative incentives. “Moral hazard entails market failure,” Hülsmann wrote. “It brings about... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029637/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:50:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029419/posts Recent Federal Reserve activities suggest that Chairman Ben Bernanke went from being in charge to losing control of the Federal Reserve in the span of a few days.As for the longer-term direction of monetary policy and the Federal Reserve? It could be up for grabs after the elections this fall. Credit markets have been sending a signal that economic conditions might improve later this year, and the dollar value appeared to be in the process of finding a bottom against the overvalued euro. At least it appears that is what Bernanke thought. Central bank officials typically don't say much about... IBD http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029419/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:34:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028188/posts Friday's market rout in employment, oil, the dollar and stocks was not the end of the world, but it is a warning. The message is that the current Washington policy mix of easy money and Keynesian fiscal "stimulus" is taking us down the road to stagflation. Stocks hit the skids following a plunge in the dollar and a nearly $11 leap in the oil price, which in turn followed a jump in the jobless rate to 5.5% in May from 5%. Investors are guessing that the weak jobs report means that the Federal Reserve won't follow through on its recent... The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028188/posts#comment Mon, 9 Jun 2008 05:54:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024766/posts Has the Federal Reserve run out of bullets? that implication could be drawn from the recently released minutes of the Fed's last Open Market Committee meeting, during which the federal funds rate was cut from 2.25% to 2%. The Fed hinted that no more rate cuts are in store and that the economic horizon is becoming cloudier. (The reason our central bank can't reduce interest rates further is that the inflation picture is getting uglier.) Stocks tanked on this news. However, the Fed has yet to use its most effective artillery: strengthening the value of the U.S. dollar. forbes.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024766/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:26:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019104/posts More than two years after the October 1929 stock market crash and in the depth of the ensuing depression, a commission originally established by the Republican-chaired Senate Banking and Currency Committee to prepare the party's official defense for the upcoming presidential election finally began in March 1932 to examine the causes of the market crash and to recommend reforms to prevent future recurrences...SNIP... The implosion of Rubinomics It was Robert Rubin, special economic assistant to Clinton and later Treasury secretary, who worked out what has come to be known as Rubinomics, the strategy of dollar hegemony through the promotion of... AsiaTimes online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019104/posts#comment Wed, 21 May 2008 13:26:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2011334/posts Forget this last post, the Federal Reserve has stepped in and settled the debate that was brewing between the White House & Congress. Basically, the student loan companies need someone to buy some loans so they can have enough reserve cash to offer more loans in the future. Due to high default rates, high inflation rates, and overall low student loan return rates, no investors are showing up for the normal bond auctions. Part of this, of course, is due to an over-correction by Congress during the financial boom period of 2004 to 2006. By the time legislation had passed... Free College Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2011334/posts#comment Mon, 5 May 2008 08:22:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2008852/posts Crude oil prices and the value of the dollar have been marching in different directions for months. But that may shift if the Federal Reserve signals on Wednesday that its rate-cutting campaign has come to a close. One factor that has sent the dollar down and oil up recently has been the Federal Reserve's months-long round of rate cuts. In an attempt to stimulate the ailing U.S. economy, the central bank has cut rates by three percentage points since September. But the rate cuts are also inflationary, weakening the dollar and sending oil prices higher. "The weak dollar is a... cnnmoney.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2008852/posts#comment Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:06:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2005675/posts “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” -Thomas Jefferson The Founding Fathers put Congress in control of the the U.S. monetary system. In 1913 Congress relinquished this awesome power and gave it to a private cartel with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act. For almost 100 years, Federal Reserve policy has swindled Americans... echo chambers http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2005675/posts#comment Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:53:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998556/posts NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Some members of the Federal Reserve are worried about the possibility of a "severe and protracted downturn" in the U.S. economy, according to the minutes of the central bank's latest minutes released Tuesday. The minutes show that some Fed policymakers are concerned that the problems in the "housing sector had deepened and that considerable uncertainty surrounded the outlook for housing." The Fed cut its key federal funds rate by three-quarters of a point at the March 18 meeting, its sixth rate cut since September. The Fed has been cutting rates in an effort to keep the... money.cnn.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998556/posts#comment Tue, 8 Apr 2008 18:25:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998109/posts Added: April 07, 2008 Recessions are part of capitalism. They happen every so often. WeÂ’ve had two in the last super-prosperous 25 years. And it looks like weÂ’re entering a third one after FridayÂ’s jobs-loss report. The unemployment rate went up to 5.1 percent, which is still a low number in historical terms. But the March labor report showed a loss of 80,000 payroll jobs, while payrolls in the prior two months were downwardly revised by 67,000. Non-farm payrolls have fallen for three straight months after peaking last December. Private-sector jobs have dropped four consecutive months. This is a big... Primetimepolitics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998109/posts#comment Mon, 7 Apr 2008 21:08:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997823/posts Those blindsided by the recent financial meltdown are now loudly blaming the free market for its failure to police its own excesses, and are calling for greater regulation to prevent future disasters. But for those who clearly observed the problems developing (in high definition slow motion) the blame can be directed squarely at the policies of the Greenspan/Bernanke Federal Reserve. As has been the case countless times in history, the free market will now pay the price for government incompetence.In Senate hearings this week, all parties involved completely ignored the Fed's own culpability in igniting the speculative fever. It's as... Dollar Daze http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997823/posts#comment Mon, 7 Apr 2008 10:32:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996901/posts “Explain the logic of this? The Bank of Bernanke takes $29 billion in Bear's toxic real estate debts, but lets Bear Stearns' skyscraper go to JPMorgan for a song? Why didn't the Fed take control of Bear's one real asset and rent it out to JPMorgan with the proceeds going back into federal coffers?”…American taxpayers are potentially on the hook for $29 billion…yes, $29 billion… “$66 billion. That is the record amount of money Wall Street's top five firms…paid out in compensation and bonuses last year to their 186,000 employees…” “At Merrill Lynch, they paid out $15.9 billion in compensation... Financialsense .com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996901/posts#comment Fri, 4 Apr 2008 22:22:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996324/posts WASHINGTON (AP) - Big Wall Street investment companies are borrowing a bit more from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending window. The Federal Reserve reports that those firms averaged $38.1 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the new lending program. That compared with $32.9 billion in the previous week and $13.4 billion in the first week the lending facility opened. Breitbart/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996324/posts#comment Thu, 3 Apr 2008 22:05:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995529/posts Why Rescues Don't Work By Paul Tustain "...Just like natural organisms, the financial system must have death to evolve into a better form..." NOW THAT HE'S wearing some sort of do-good government hat, even Hank Paulson is not thinking straight.Regulate in New York and finance goes to Toronto. Regulate in London, it goes to Frankfurt or Paris - and since Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris are run by the same nervous bureaucrat-types, we can reckon soon enough that the entire financial markets will be hosted out of Singapore and Shanghai.There they will accept the risks as well as the rewards,... DollarDaze.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995529/posts#comment Wed, 2 Apr 2008 16:13:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995463/posts Yesterday (March 31st), Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced the laying of the government's foundation stone for the next big financial bubble, heralding an era of hyperinflation and probable further runs on the U.S. dollar. Of course, like most politics, there is usually a 'good' reason and a 'real' reason for actions. Today's announcement was no exception. In today's case, the 'good' reason was the effective 'policing' of the financial, derivative, insurance and mortgage markets. Some cynics could be excused for thinking that the so-called 'restructuring' and massive increase in the powers of the Federal Reserve Board were like locking the... Safe Haven http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995463/posts#comment Wed, 2 Apr 2008 14:22:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994583/posts The US administration Monday proposed a broad overhaul of financial market regulation in an effort to restore confidence in a system reeling from the subprime mortgage mayhem. The announcement comes as the US regulatory system is blamed for failing to prevent rampant excesses in mortgage lending that set off what is now seen as the worst financial crisis in decades. "Government has a responsibility to make sure our financial system is regulated effectively. And in this area, we can do a better job," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in unveiling the plan. Although the plan was announced amid a crisis... Breitbart/AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994583/posts#comment Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:13:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994366/posts When This Week assembled a round-table of four liberals versus one conservative yesterday, I kvetched. Maybe I should have cheered. ABC's idea of balance looks good compared to that of CBS. This morning's Early Show segment on the Bush admin's plan, to be announced later this morning, to regulate the financial industry was essentially conservative-free. OK, to be absolutely accurate, there was a brief clip of Treasury Secretary Paulson saying the plan would protect the Fed's balance sheet and US taxpayers. But in her set-up piece, CBS's Kimberly Dozier emphasized the negative: "critics say it's win-win for banks, not the... NewsBusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994366/posts#comment Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:48:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994118/posts Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposed sweep of financial regulation would emphasize more control at the federal level, at the expense of state oversight, and consolidate an alphabet soup of existing agencies. It is an idea that has been kicking around for a while, and one that is bound to provoke heated debate on Capitol Hill and among the various banking and market oversight agencies, which are already tripping over each others' turf. It is also bound to please some circles of Wall Street because the plan, while strengthening the Federal Reserve's role over certain aspects of the markets, like risk... Primetime Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994118/posts#comment Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:52:39 GMT