EconomyNews
How Helping Puerto Rico Through Debt Crisis Became Personal for One Conservative
Puerto Rico made Rep. Raul Labrador, but the fact he was born there, and called it home until he was 13 years old did not… Read More
EconomyNews
GOP Fights Over Whether Puerto Rico Rescue Plan Is a ‘Bailout’
The GOP lawmaker charged with devising a plan to rescue Puerto Rico from its debt crisis uses a word dreaded by most Republicans—bailout—only to describe… Read More
EconomyNews
Rand Paul Moves One Step Closer to Auditing the Fed
The Senate will vote on Sen. Rand Paul’s legislation to audit the Federal Reserve when Congress returns from recess in January. The Federal Reserve Transparency… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Why You’d Be Wrong in Thinking the Fed Just Raised Interest Rates
For the first time in seven years, the Federal Reserve has raised its target for the federal funds rate. Some news reports get this story… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Banks Should Not Be Forced to Buy ‘Stock’ in the Federal Reserve
A week ago, President Barack Obama signed a new highway funding bill that will effectively tax banks and raid the Federal Reserve to pay for… Read More
EconomyCommentary
It’s Time to Stop Laughing at the Idea of Returning to Gold Standard
During the last debate Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee and Senator Rand Paul all waded into monetary policy, a hot topic since the… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Auditing the Fed and 3 Other Monetary Policy Reforms Lawmakers Slated to Vote on This Week
Proponents of monetary policy reform and financial deregulation have had very little to cheer about during the last few years. Even many of the positive… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The Government Just Slapped Crowdfunding With a Bunch of New Regulations
Two events from last week exemplify federal officials’ refusal to let people live their own lives and earn money as they see fit. One deals… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Debunking Myths About Banks and the 2008 Financial Crisis
Between now and the presidential election, we’ll be treated to all sorts of wonderful fables about what caused the 2008 financial crisis and the best… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Can Two Polar Opposite Senators Muzzle the Federal Reserve?
The Federal Reserve has injected trillions into the banking system since the 2008 crisis, and we’re still stuck in a low-growth economy. Yet rather than… Read More
EconomyNews
Warren, Vitter Team Up to Take on Wall Street’s ‘Too Big to Fail’ Megabanks
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and David Vitter, R-La., have merged in an unlikely pairing to rein in the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending powers to Wall… Read More
EconomyCommentary
3 Reasons to Focus on Something Other Than the Fed’s Interest Rate Target
Stocks tumbled in several major markets earlier this week because, supposedly, investors were nervous about this weeks Fed meeting. The Fed has flirted with raising… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The Connection Between China’s Stock Market Collapse and Its Past Spectacular Growth
In mid-June, China’s Shanghai Composite Index was up a dazzling 60 percent since the beginning of the year. It was the highest level in more… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The Fed Shouldn’t Pay Attention to Short-Term Changes in Stock Market
Back in grad school (not all that long ago), we pondered whether a central bank should target equity (or other asset) prices to conduct monetary… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Is the Fed Necessary?
The Federal Reserve opened its annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Thursday. Its experts have assembled to discuss “inflation dynamics.” Concurrently, another group of economists… Read More
EconomyCommentary
No, the Federal Reserve Cannot Set Interest Rates
As the Federal Reserve summer symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. begins, I thought I’d set the record straight. The Federal Reserve cannot just set interest rates…. Read More
EconomyNews
China’s Economic Woes Jolt Global Stock Markets
U.S. stock markets plummeted Monday, furthering a global market decline that has eliminated nearly $10 trillion from international shares as concerns grow over China’s economic… Read More
EconomyCommentary
It’s a Myth That Financial Markets Have Been Deregulated in Past Century
Why do I write so much about the myth that financial market deregulation caused the financial crisis? Because that false narrative has spread so far… Read More
EconomyNews
Is the Fed Worth It? House Republicans Want to Find Out
Two Texas Republicans are pushing to examine the effectiveness of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies. The House Financial Services committee, led by Chairman Jeb Hensarling,… Read More
EconomyNews
Five Years After Dodd-Frank, Worry of ‘Too Big to Fail’ Still Persists
Five years after Congress passed the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act as a response to the 2008 financial crisis, Americans remain… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The Federal Reserve Hasn’t Reduced Frequency of Recessions. Why Is It Necessary Again?
In two months the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will hold its annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It is here that, for more than… Read More
EconomyNews
Senator Moves to Rein in $600 Million Government Agency That Operates ‘Without Real Congressional Oversight’
In an attempt to enforce transparency and accountability, a Republican senator is attempting to restructure a federal agency that oversees a wide range of consumer financial… Read More
EconomyCommentary
What Lawmakers Can Do If They’re Serious About Ending Bailouts
There’s still a widespread belief that the federal government will bail out large financial firms if there’s another crisis. Curbing the Federal Reserve’s ability to… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Why ‘Currency Manipulation’ Provision Should Be Kept Out of Trade Legislation
Any day now, a major debate will commence in Congress over legislation to grant Trade Promotion Authority to the executive branch. Among the more controversial… Read More
EconomyAnalysis
Are We Ready to Use Bitcoin?
Victor Hugo, author of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” famously said “All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Federal Reserve Reforms Should Not Be a Partisan Issue
The Washington Post’s Robert Samuelson is the latest commentator to paint conservative critics of the Federal Reserve as dangerous and misinformed. Samuelson discounts auditing the… Read More
EconomyNews
Fed Chair Janet Yellen Met With a Coalition of Conservatives Friday. Here’s How the Meeting Went.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen met with a coalition of conservatives on Friday to discuss monetary policy. In December, a coalition of conservative groups led by American… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The Fed Isn’t Currently Independent of Congress
The club of U.S. central bankers appears jittery, but it’s not because of interest rates, unemployment, or mortgage-backed securities. It’s because of Congress. The Fed… Read More
EconomyNews
Rand Paul Slams Federal Reserve’s Secrecy, Reintroduces Bill to ‘Audit the Fed’
Sen. Rand Paul is reviving his push to audit the Federal Reserve. The Kentucky Republican and presumptive 2016 presidential candidate said he wants to bring… Read More
EconomyNews
‘Conservatives Cannot Sit Back’: Coalition Wants to Meet With Fed Chair Janet Yellen
Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen met with several left-leaning groups last month to discuss monetary policy. Now, several conservative organizations are asking for the same… Read More
