America's Economic Future – A Discussion By Ted Kavadas
Alan Greenspan gave an interview to The Wall Street Journal on January 7. I found various parts to be of interest, and in many instances I disagree (partially or fully) with what he says. I wrote a February 3 blog post on his comments in the interview concerning the primary purpose of a central bank. …
This post is an update to that of December 9, 2010, “Measuring QE2 Effectiveness.” There are many different ways one could use to gauge whether QE2 is successful. Of great significance, I am not aware of any official statement that specifically states the goals (and metrics of such) of QE2. However, lowering of interest rates, …
I could comment extensively on Ben Bernanke’s speech and Q&A at the National Press Club yesterday, as I partially and fully disagree on many of the comments he made. I find it unfortunate that official transcripts of this and previous Q&A sessions are not available. (speech video and transcript; Q&A video and partial transcript) One …
During QE1 (the first round of The Federal Reserve’s Quantitative Easing) there seemed to be substantial commentary and discussion concerning the exit of such a program. Over the last few months the discussions over the exit strategy seem to have diminished greatly – despite the start of QE2 and speculation of additional QE programs, i.e. …
In announcing QE2 in their November 3 FOMC meeting, the statement contained the following excerpt: “Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. Currently, the unemployment rate is elevated, and measures of underlying inflation are somewhat low, relative to levels that the Committee judges to be consistent, over …
In the November 22 – November 28 Bloomberg BusinessWeek, p23, Nassim Taleb is quoted as saying the following, which I find interesting: “Bernanke is someone who talks about returns without talking about risk. It’s identical to a pilot who talks about speed but not about safety. The measures he is using may work, but should …
Last Monday, CNBC aired a recent interview (with a transcript) of former President George W. Bush by Larry Kudlow. The interview focused on George W. Bush’s recently published book (“Decision Points”) and the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009. I found various comments by George W. Bush to be interesting. In many instances I disagree with what …
On Saturday (November 6) Ben Bernanke took part in a panel discussion. This was part of The Federal Reserve conference “A Return to Jekyll Island: The Origins, History, and Future of the Federal Reserve.” I found these comments, pertaining to QE2, to be highly notable: Ben Bernanke: “There is not really, in my mind, as …
Ben Bernanke wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post yesterday titled, “What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability.” I could write very extensively about this piece as it is highly notable on several fronts. For now, I will limit my comments. My analysis indicates that the risks of QE …
There has been an immense amount of material written about additional Quantitative Easing (QE2). Here are some of the works that I have found among the most interesting (although I don’t necessarily agree with what is being said): “Guidelines for Global Economic Policymaking,” (pdf) Gregory Hess, Shadow Open Market Committee, October 12, 2010 Investment Outlook, …