The Fed and Treasury

Will Trump Try to ‘Overrule’ Monetary Policy?

By Mark Thoma

How will the Federal Reserve evolve during Donald Trump’s term as president? Presently, three of the seven positions on the Federal Reserve Board are vacant. These vacancies, along with the...
Why the Treasury Is Ending a Low-Income Retirement Saving Program

By Beth Braverman

Less than two years after the Obama administration rolled out a myRA, a savings program aimed at helping the millions of Americans without access to a retirement account through work, the Trump...
Will Janet Yellen Give Wall Street a Scare?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For years, the Federal Reserve has been unable to convince the market it's serious about aggressively tightening policy. Janet Yellen and her cohorts have been guilty of "crying wolf," constantly...
Is the Fed About to Wage War on the Rich?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For years, stocks have been driven relentlessly higher thanks to a single statement that summarized the aggressive central bank largesse since the eurozone crisis flared up in 2012: Policymakers...
Is the Fed Fighting the Trump Rally?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

The evidence is growing that the Federal Reserve’s policymakers are actively working to lean against the stock market's rise, a dramatic reversal from the years of policy support stock market bulls...

The Fed’s Big Mistake: Rate Hikes Hurt US Workers

By David Dayen

Protesters rallied in Washington, New York City and Philadelphia yesterday against an imminent government action that would damage the financial prospects of ordinary workers. And no, it had nothing...
The Fed, the Reality of Tax Cuts, and Donald Trump

By Mark Thoma

For many years, Republicans argued that tax cuts for the wealthy pay for themselves. Cutting taxes on the wealthy, according to Republicans, allows them to keep a larger share of anything new they...
Will Unwinding the Fed’s $4.5 Trillion Balance Sheet Kill the Bull Market?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

Over the last decade, investors have grown accustomed to a Federal Reserve that constantly coddled them, allayed their fears and did everything possible to support the financial markets and asset...
The Key to This Market: Here’s What Will Determine if Stocks Rise or Fall

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For now, instead of putting pressure on risk assets, the Fed's newfound hawkishness is bolstering the reflation trade by lifting the dollar higher and attracting global capital into U.S. assets. Same...
Can Wall Street Handle Higher Interest Rates?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

The Federal Reserve just raised interest rates for the second time in three months, signaling a dramatic quickening of its prior pace. For the first time in more than a decade, Fed policymakers are...

Janet Yellen: 10 Facts About the Most Influential Woman in the World

By Millie Dent

The entire world is watching her every move. One flinch and the stock market could plummet. One wrong move and the global economy could veer back toward recession. Unsurprisingly given those...
Not So Fast, Janet: Why the September Jobs Report Really Matters

By Rob Garver

Just a few days after Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen delivered a speech suggesting that the Fed might finally fire up the interest rate machine, raising its benchmark federal funds rate...
Yellen's Choice: Pain Now or Panic Later?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

We are now just hours away from the most important Federal Reserve policy decision in a generation —one that could result in the first interest rate hike in nine years and begin unwinding the...
Obama Warns Republicans Not to ‘Play Chicken’ with the Economy

By Eric Pianin

With signs that the government could indeed be headed for another government shutdown this fall, an exasperated President Obama urged Republican lawmakers not to “play chicken” with the economic...
4 Ways to Lock in Low Interest Rates as the Fed Eyes a Move

By Beth Braverman

Two months ago economists were all but certain that the Fed would raise rates at its meeting this week. Now, not so much. The slowdown in China, turmoil in the stock market and continued low...

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