America's Economic Future – A Discussion By Ted Kavadas
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 …
Read moreMilton Friedman On The Fed’s Ability To Control Interest Rates
Recently Alan Greenspan wrote a paper titled “Activism.” (pdf) While I don’t agree with many of its analyses and conclusions, I am finding it to be an interesting document. On March 4, CNBC interviewed Greenspan. I found one response by Greenspan to be especially notable. The question happens at the 42 second mark: interviewer: …
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 …
Ben Bernanke gave his second interview to “60 Minutes” last night. This interview is very notable in many respects. I could make extensive comments on various aspects of the interview, as I continue to have vast differences of opinion with many of Ben Bernanke’s stated comments and analyses. For now I will make some …
Read moreBen Bernanke’s December 5 2010 “60 Minutes” Interview – Comments
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, …