Money & Politics Archives - Page 2 of 46

fed independence, alternative currencies, fed, federal reserve, cato monetary conference

Banking Regulation, Commodity Money, Currency Boards, Digital Money, Economic History, Events, Free Banking, Inflation & Deflation, Money & Politics, News, The Fed & Central Banks

Inside Cato's 37th Annual Monetary Conference: A Shadow Review of Fed Policy

Amanda Griffiths/December 19, 2019January 2, 2020 /1 Comment

From President Trump lobbing invectives against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Twitter to progressives clamoring for the Federal Reserve to use monetary policy to finance social projects, our central bank’s independence looks increasingly tenuous. Recently, Chairman Powell called for an internal "strategic review" of how…

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, conservatorship, homeownership, Joe Nocera, housing, Government Bailouts,

Banking Regulation, Financial Markets, Money & Politics, News

Fannie and Freddie Need Fixing—Urgently: A Response to Joe Nocera

Diego Zuluaga/December 10, 2019December 16, 2019 /2 Comments

Yesterday, Joe Nocera penned an extraordinary column expressing his bafflement at the Trump administration’s drive to release Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two firms that purchase and guarantee around half of single-family mortgages in the United States, from government conservatorship. Nocera argues against such a move, writing…

mmt, banking regulation, bank run, bank failure, regulation, free banking

Banking Regulation, Booms & Busts, Economic Thought, Free Banking, Money & Politics, News

Warren Mosler and the Great American Banking Myth

George Selgin/December 3, 2019January 2, 2020 /38 Comments

Yesterday morning, a Modern Monetary Theorist tweeted part of a 2017 interview he did with Warren Mosler, one of that school's leading proponents and benefactors. As the clip was titled "Against Free Banking: The Liability Side Isn't The Place For Market Discipline," yours truly couldn't resist a…

Fed, repos, Treasury, Interest on excess reserves, standing repo facility,

Banking Regulation, Money & Politics, News, The Fed & Central Banks

Stop the Presses! or, How the Fed Can Avoid Reserve Shortages without Bulking-Up,
Part 2

George Selgin/November 14, 2019January 2, 2020 /2 Comments

"You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.” —the Good Witch of the East, to Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz. (This is the conclusion of a two-part essay. For Part 1 click here.) Equipped with some historical background, we can now consider ways in…

excess reserves, fed, fed balance sheet, repos, bank reserves

Banking Regulation, Money & Politics, News, The Fed & Central Banks

Stop the Presses! or, How the Fed Can Avoid Reserve Shortages without Bulking-Up,
Part 1

George Selgin/November 12, 2019January 2, 2020 /6 Comments

"The FOMC should forget about r* for the moment and focus on … the supermassive black hole at the center of global dollar funding markets."—Zoltan Poszar, 21 August, 2019. A few weeks ago, as part of its effort to prevent overnight rates from rising above the Fed's…