In my last post on the subject, I referred to the FOMC’s orgy of transparency. It looks like it’s going to be worse than I originally thought. Not only are they going to publish the Fed Funds forecasts of individual members; they apparently plan to do that but not put names with the forecasts. The [...]
The Fed announced yesterday that it turned over $76.9 billion of its earnings to the Treasury (and the taxpayer) during 2011. This was near the record $79.3 billion transferred during 2010. It is about three times the amount transferred during more normal times. For example, the transfers averaged $21.5 billion from 2002 through 2005. While [...]
Two posts ago, I mentioned the unrealistic composition (currencies and weights) in the DSY dollar index. It is composed of the six currencies in the left column below with the weights indicated. I took it for granted that those weights would be recognized by everyone as not representative of the current pattern of U.S. international [...]
Back in the day, when I was a member of the FOMC (1991-2004) I occasionally had an opportunity to push back against a push for greater transparency surrounding monetary policy. I was usually in the minority in thinking that transparency can be taken too far—that the reduction in flexibility for policymakers and the one-way bet [...]
I was a guest on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street this morning, see (http://video.cnbc/gallery/?video=3000065073/ and the subject of dollar strength came up. The other guest in the segment pointed out that we have not had a strong dollar since the mid-1980s when the Plaza Accord started bringing it down. I didn’t disagree with that, but [...]
Transparency is a current FOMC cause But it reminds me too much of sausages and laws I think translucence, like my shower door, Is a good compromise It lets in the light, but keeps out the flies. Back in the day, I tended to drag my feet on new measures of transparency since I thought [...]
My wife keeps getting e-mails forwarded by her friends urging everybody to buy American to keep our jobs at home. Some have suggested giving gift cards for services rather than merchandize on the grounds that most merchandize is made in China. I’ve resisted the temptation to dictate a response for her to send to her [...]
Greg Mankiw, the Harvard professor who was recently walked out on by several students in his undergraduate economics class, wrote about it in today’s (4 December 2011) New York Times. In his words, “On Nov.2, a group of students staged a walkout of one of my lectures. In an open letter to me, the organizers [...]
What the Fed recently announced regarding its swap agreements should be helpful in forestalling a liquidity crisis in Europe, but it is not a “bailout” of anyone, and it does not increase any risk or cost to the U.S. taxpayer. It will help prevent a freeze up of European banks needing “dollar” liquidity. The swap [...]
By now we’ve probably all been forwarded a version of the tale of the $100 bill that single handedly wiped out lots of debt. In case some readers haven’t seen it yet, it goes something like this: A bald-headed bearded stranger stopped in town and went into an small old hotel to check in. He [...]