We learned today that the Federal Reserves turned over $89 billion of its profits, primarily from interest on its securities portfolio, to the U.S. Treasury during 2012. The amount repatriated in recent years has grown substantially because of the sharp growth in the Fed’s total assets resulting from its purchases of Treasuries and Mortgage Backed [...]
The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves Paul Krugman argues In today’s (July 5) New York Times that the case for extending the duration of unemployment benefits is stronger when the unemployment rate is higher. Even if empirical studies show that extending benefits reduces slightly the incentive to seek employment, that argument is weaker (and [...]
Notes made for remarks to the Federalist Society on November 13, 2009 It’s an honor to be on this panel with all these distinguished people. But I’m afraid I was invited because I’m considered soft on bailouts. That’s a terrible reputation to have. What is it they say about poker? “If you look around the [...]
Guitar-picking virtuoso, Glen Campbell, was once asked, derisively I assume, if he could read music. He said he could read music, but not so much that it got in the way of his picking. Not to suggest a comparison, but I'm pretty sure that if I'd ever taken a course in writing poetry, I'd never [...]
(Notes for Remarks Made at a Joint Atlas/NCPA Breakfast on Friday, September 26, 2008) I'm still under the influence of our "Cowboy Chic" night last night. I can relate to the cowboy part, but I'm not so sure about the chic. Given our preoccupation with the ongoing financial crisis, it reminded my of the [...]
The New York Times has asked me to participate in a new blog, Economix, and my first posting appears today. In it I argue for a more narrow view of moral hazard in the context of the current financial crisis. You can read it here. If all goes as currently planned, I will have a post [...]