Category Archives: Politics

What Will the Federal Reserve Do??

Popular Economics Weekly Now the fat’s in the fire. Both stocks and bond prices have been falling of late, due to the fear that the Fed will end its $85 billion per month QE purchases of Treasury and mortgage securities … Continue reading

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Social Security Isn’t Dead

Popular Economics Weekly Social Security isn’t dead, or even dying, in spite of the prediction by the Social Security Trustees that it will no longer be able to pay full benefits by 2033. That’s because the Trustees use what are … Continue reading

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A Greater Recession, if Fed QE Ends Too Soon

Financial FAQs The stock and bond markets are sinking because of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s seemingly offhand remark that the Fed could slow down its QE purchases of securities as early as its June FOMC meeting. Now Organization for Economic Development … Continue reading

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Ben Bernanke and the Fragile Recovery

Financial FAQs We know how fragile is the U.S. economic recovery just from the past 48 hours, because both U.S. and Japanese stock prices plummeted, and interest rates jumped on a seemingly offhand remark made by Fed Chairman Bernanke in … Continue reading

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Consumer Debt Falls to Pre-Recession Level

Financial FAQs The total amount of debt held by Americans fell again in the first three months of 2013 and stood at the lowest level since the middle of 2006, the New York Federal Reserve said Tuesday. The level of … Continue reading

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Saving Fannie and Freddie—Part II

Financial FAQs The Federal Housing Finance Authority that supervises the so-called Government Supervised Enterprises (GSE), now including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, just announced restrictions that not only weaken Fannie and Freddie’s mandate, but the mortgage and housing markets in … Continue reading

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Austerinomics, the Anti-Growth Orthodoxy

Financial FAQs The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee has just said it in the press release from its latest committee meeting in an otherwise ‘moderately’ upbeat announcement: “Household spending and business fixed investment advanced, and the housing sector has strengthened … Continue reading

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Will U.S. Growth Slow in 2013?

Popular Economics Weekly The naysayers are already at it. First Quarter GDP growth was 2.5 percent, slightly below forecasts. So many pundits are now saying it is a repeat of last year and the year before. An initial growth spurt … Continue reading

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The Iceland Experiment—A Lesson in Austerinomics

Popular Economics Weekly Today’s parliamentary elections in Iceland will pose a difficult choice for Icelanders. Polls show conservatives have the lead—a so-called Center-Right coalition that was in power when Iceland’s own housing bubble burst and its kronar currency lost most … Continue reading

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Deflation and Our Plunging Deficit

Popular Economics Weekly The federal budget deficit is shrinking rapidly, says Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius. And that is not such a good thing at the moment, since the private sector isn’t spending enough. It means this very weak … Continue reading

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