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...

A Fed Rate Hike Could Turn Global Financial Anxiety into a Nervous Breakdown

By Caroline Baum

Never has so much been said by so many about so little. The topic of this year's Jackson Hole symposium , sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, was "Inflation Dynamics and Monetary...
Will the Fed Raise Rates in September? Look to the Markets for the Answer

By Rob Garver

The sense among a large portion of Fed watchers is that turmoil in global stock markets last week probably forestalled any interest rate hike in September, but the reason for the delay may be less...
Obama to GOP: Don't Kill the Economy This Fall

By Eric Pianin

With ominous political clouds gathering as lawmakers prepare to return to Washington early next month, President Obama on Thursday warned Congress not to “kill” the economy with another government...
How the Government Is Rolling Over for Big Banks Again

By David Dayen

Last week I wrote about the dangers of vacant seats at the financial regulatory agencies. But sometimes there’s just as much danger from the seats that happen to be occupied. Bloomberg reported this...
The U.S. Balance Sheet Is a Disaster that Congress Can’t Fix

By Rob Garver

When Congress comes back next month, there’s a good chance that lawmakers and the White House will face off over federal spending once again, taking the Treasury to the brink of default before...

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