The American Rescue Plan – Highlights and Comments

On Thursday (March 11, 2021) President Biden signed into law “The American Rescue Plan.” This is a $1.9 Trillion stimulus package. Comments that I found notable (although don’t necessarily agree with) from President Biden’s March 12, 2021 comments regarding the plan: This leg- — this legislation, as everybody has already mentioned, will provide $1,400 in …

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Federal Reserve Philosophies – Then And Now

On Monday, February 13, John C. Williams, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, gave a speech titled “The Federal Reserve’s Mandate and Best Practice Monetary Policy.” Although I don’t agree with many aspects of the speech, I found various aspects to be notable.  I would like to highlight one excerpt in particular, …

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George W. Bush’s “Decision Points” Book – Chapter 9 – Notable Aspects

I think it is important to reflect back upon the events preceding and during The Financial Crisis, and the actions taken during those periods, as they have had, and will have, substantial ramifications for our future economic situation. I have found comments made by former President George W. Bush to be interesting and notable, although …

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Milton Friedman On The Fed’s Ability To Control Interest Rates

On February 14 I wrote a post highlighting Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose” television series of 1980. From time to time I plan on commenting on various material contained therein as much of it is highly relevant to issues we are currently encountering. His following comments are particularly noteworthy given today’s economic environment and intervention …

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Ben Bernanke’s Speech And Q&A On February 3, 2011

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 …

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Quantitative Easing Exit Issues

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. …

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Nassim Taleb Quote On Bernanke

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 …

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George W. Bush / Larry Kudlow Interview November 2010

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 …

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