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Posts tagged ‘Bernanke’

Dec 21

robin anderson

Santa’s Economic Naughty and Nice List

You may already know this, but because Santa Claus only works for one night a year, he occupies the rest of his time with detailed statistical analysis. That’s why he keeps detailed lists of all the “naughty” and “nice” children. It is, however, little known that Santa Claus also keeps various sub-lists for his statistical analyses. One of these lists is his Economic Naughty and Nice List. To get on Santa’s Economic Nice List, the subject must be achieving positive results for the economy. Santa’s Economic Naughty List contains those who, through action or inaction, do their economies harm. I happen to have seen a leaked portion of the list (Wikileaks again!) and wanted to share here. Read more

Dec 12

robin anderson
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Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Explicit Fed Targets

Today, the Federal Reserve announced that it will keep its foot on the easy-money pedal until the unemployment rate drops below 6.5% or inflation looks to go above 2.5%. The proposal has been getting some press as of late (you can see my recent post after Fed Vice Chair Yellen brought up the idea in November). This is almost exactly what Chicago Fed president Charles Evans proposed back in 2011. Well, Evans has evidently convinced everyone else at the Fed. Read more

Nov 21

robin anderson

Did You Hear What Ben Said…and Didn’t Say?

In his high-profile speech to the New York Economic Club yesterday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke didn’t give any new thoughts on monetary policy. He did reaffirm his view from September – that the Fed will be accommodative not just until the economy recovers, but until it’s clear that the recovery is sustainable.

…we expect – as we indicated in our September statement – that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens. In other words, we will want to be sure that the recovery is established before we begin to normalize policy.

However, there were some interesting thoughts about the fiscal cliff (a term that Bernanke himself coined) and on where we are headed post-cliff.  First, and not surprisingly, Bernanke was really concerned about the fiscal cliff and the elevated risk of a recession if a deal is not reached. Second, though, dear Ben was downright sunny about the U.S. economy in the event that Washington can make a deal on fiscal policy.  Read more

Sep 19

robin anderson

QE3 May Have the Following Side Effects

Imagine you’ve just finished dinner. You sit down to watch one of the various season premieres that will be populating the airwaves. During one of the program breaks, you see a strange commercial showing young people running, old people laughing, and children hugging their parents. It’s got to be one of those commercials for some new prescription medication you think…but no. This is an ad for the Federal Reserve’s new monetary policy tool, QE3. Wondering if you’re dreaming, you think, what channel is this?

If you don’t skip over commercials, this is what you might hear.

ANNOUNCER (in a calm, relaxing tone): If a sluggish economy is keeping you awake at night, and lowering the federal funds rate just hasn’t worked, QE3 is here to help. And if you suffer from the discomfort of chronic, persistent unemployment, QE3 is here to help.

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