Today, as expected, the Federal Open Market Committee decided not to raise U.S. interest rates, instead holding the target federal funds rate steady between 0.0 and 0.25 percent. It reiterated its “extended period” language, indicating it sees no need to raise interest rates in the near term. And it More…
A great catch from The Wall Street Journal:
[Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)], the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, bought up to $15,000 in shares of ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF last December, according to his 2009 financial disclosure statement. The exchange-traded fund takes a short
The prices for consumer goods fell for a second straight month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today — meaning the second straight month of slight deflation. The Consumer Price Index tracked down 0.2 percent from April to May, with the index increasing 2.0 percent in the past year. More…
This morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is testifying before the House Committee on the Budget about the current economic situation and the federal budget.
These are contentious times when it comes to the relative importance of debts and deficit-spending. Hawks — and the American public — are deeply worried More…
The core inflation rate is holding steady at 0.9 percent, the lowest rate in 44 years. The United States actually experienced a month of deflation in April. Still, yesterday, The New York Times felt it fitting to warn that the Federal Reserve — all too aware of the above More…
Sandra Pianalto, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, gave a speech explaining how she analyzes the economy and forecasting a long, slow recovery, given the unusually high unemployment rate and the massive numbers of long-term unemployed. In her highly dovish speech, she says she recognizes strong More…
Fed governors and market gurus have been warning about the threat of inflation to the United States economy — but there remains no sign of prices rising at worrying rates. Indeed, this morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a slight deflation in the price of consumer goods in More…
The release of the Fed’s 2004 transcripts and my initial post have ginned up a number of posts and stories — including ones by Ryan Grim, Yves Smith, Matt Yglesias, Paul Krugman and Ryan Avent. In his story, Grim pulls out what sounds More…
Economist and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Janet Yellen, whom President Obama nominated to become vice chairperson of the Federal Reserve board this morning, has responded to today’s events on her bank’s website:
This afternoon, the Federal Open Markets Committee, the board of the Federal Reserve that determines monetary policy and interest rates, announced it has decided to keep the target federal funds rate between 0.0 and 0.25 percent, as expected.
The language in the statement was virtually identical to that in More…
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