Janet Yellen’s final press conference as Chairman of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors underscored everything that is wrong with the Fed and with the modern economics profession. Two particular examples demonstrate that, far from being able to lead the country’s economy, the Fed and modern macroeconomics is hopelessly lost and not at all able to find its way. The...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has broken record after record this year. After breaking through the 20,000 point barrier in February, the Dow has been on a tear and is currently at over 24,000 points. Since February of 2016, the Dow has gained over 50% and has nearly doubled since 2012. Many market commentators have given in to stock...
President Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Reserve System, Jerome Powell, faced his Senate confirmation hearing this week in front of the Senate Banking Committee. Anyone who had been hoping that a Powell chairmanship would differ in any way from that of Chairman Yellen would have been sorely disappointed after watching the hearing. Having already served on the Fed’s Board...
High stock market prices have fooled many people into thinking that the economy is doing just fine, even though that’s not really the case. Economic productivity is still only increasing slightly. And the lowering unemployment rate is more the result of people continuing to leave the workforce than it is the result of the creation of new jobs. For...
President Trump recently nominated current Federal Reserve System Governor Jerome Powell to be the next Chairman of the Fed’s Board of Governors, replacing Janet Yellen when her four-year term expires. It’s a puzzling move for a President who was elected based on popular anger at the Washington establishment, and who promised to drain the swamp. As Powell’s nomination demonstrates,...
It’s no surprise to most investors that bonds, like stocks, have been in a massive boom market over the past decade. In fact...
Stock markets continue to reach record high levels, but it’s only a matter of time before they crash back to earth. When they do...
Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer unexpectedly announced his resignation last week. He will resign from the board in October, meaning that President Trump will now be able to appoint at least 4 of the 7 members of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, thus making an immediate impact on monetary policy and potentially impacting monetary policy for...
In the aftermath of the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole conference, there has been renewed discussion of a potential currency war. Central banks responded to the financial crisis by pumping trillions of dollars worth of liquidity into the financial system. It wasn’t just the Federal Reserve that engaged in those policies of quantitative easing – the Bank of...
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen delivered her semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Congress last week...