Treasury Archives

On November 19, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that he would sunset five of the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending programs at year-end: the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility, Secondary Market CCF, Municipal Liquidity Facility, Main Street Lending Program, and Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). His decision,…

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

The Fed’s Corporate Lending Facilities: A Case of Pseudo Markets

James Dorn/May 25, 2020June 19, 2022

When the Federal Reserve announced on March 23 that it would purchase eligible corporate debt, syndicated loans, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) via a special purpose vehicle (SPV), backstopped by the Treasury, moribund markets jumped. Highly leveraged companies like Carnival, Ford, and Boeing, which were unable to obtain…

Central planners using others as a scapegoat.

Events, Money & Politics, News, The Fed & Central Banks

The Treasury's Helicopter Cop-Out

George Selgin/March 20, 2020June 19, 2022

Predictably, the depths of the present economic crisis, including the remarkable flattening of interest rates since it began, have led to several calls by economists, including Jordi Gali and the Mercatus Institute's David Beckworth, for the Fed and other central banks to ready their money choppers for…

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, 2019June 19, 2022

"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…

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Housing, Government Bailout, Reform

Banking Regulation, Financial Markets, Money & Politics, News

Was the Housing Bailout Good Business for the Taxpayer?

Diego Zuluaga/September 19, 2019June 19, 2022

Earlier this month, the Department of the Treasury released its long-awaited housing finance reform plan, which focused mainly on the two government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The feds took both GSEs over in 2008, when rising defaults jeopardized their viability. The blueprint’s release date was…