The Fed and Treasury

Will Trump Try to ‘Overrule’ Monetary Policy?

By Mark Thoma

How will the Federal Reserve evolve during Donald Trump’s term as president? Presently, three of the seven positions on the Federal Reserve Board are vacant. These vacancies, along with the...
Why the Treasury Is Ending a Low-Income Retirement Saving Program

By Beth Braverman

Less than two years after the Obama administration rolled out a myRA, a savings program aimed at helping the millions of Americans without access to a retirement account through work, the Trump...
Will Janet Yellen Give Wall Street a Scare?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For years, the Federal Reserve has been unable to convince the market it's serious about aggressively tightening policy. Janet Yellen and her cohorts have been guilty of "crying wolf," constantly...
Is the Fed About to Wage War on the Rich?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For years, stocks have been driven relentlessly higher thanks to a single statement that summarized the aggressive central bank largesse since the eurozone crisis flared up in 2012: Policymakers...
Is the Fed Fighting the Trump Rally?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

The evidence is growing that the Federal Reserve’s policymakers are actively working to lean against the stock market's rise, a dramatic reversal from the years of policy support stock market bulls...

The Fed’s Big Mistake: Rate Hikes Hurt US Workers

By David Dayen

Protesters rallied in Washington, New York City and Philadelphia yesterday against an imminent government action that would damage the financial prospects of ordinary workers. And no, it had nothing...
The Fed, the Reality of Tax Cuts, and Donald Trump

By Mark Thoma

For many years, Republicans argued that tax cuts for the wealthy pay for themselves. Cutting taxes on the wealthy, according to Republicans, allows them to keep a larger share of anything new they...
Will Unwinding the Fed’s $4.5 Trillion Balance Sheet Kill the Bull Market?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

Over the last decade, investors have grown accustomed to a Federal Reserve that constantly coddled them, allayed their fears and did everything possible to support the financial markets and asset...
The Key to This Market: Here’s What Will Determine if Stocks Rise or Fall

By Anthony Mirhaydari

For now, instead of putting pressure on risk assets, the Fed's newfound hawkishness is bolstering the reflation trade by lifting the dollar higher and attracting global capital into U.S. assets. Same...
Can Wall Street Handle Higher Interest Rates?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

The Federal Reserve just raised interest rates for the second time in three months, signaling a dramatic quickening of its prior pace. For the first time in more than a decade, Fed policymakers are...

IMF’s Surprising Message to Yellen on Interest Rates

By Rob Garver

The International Monetary Fund offered some unusually explicit advice to the Federal Reserve regarding interest rates on Thursday. Among either things, the Fund warned that the central bank’s...
Cyber Thieves Hit the IRS—and 100,000 Taxpayers

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

Identity thieves hacked into an Internal Revenue Service data system earlier this year, potentially gaining access to personal financial information for at least 100,000 taxpayers. The IRS issued a...
Bond Market Is Sending the Fed an Important Signal

By Anthony Mirhaydari

Long-term interest rates are rising again this week as bond traders front-run the Federal Reserve and look for a bounce back in inflation and "real" rates, a reflection of better economic...
How Will the Fed Read the Job Market’s Mixed Messages?

By Anthony Mirhaydari

On the surface, Friday’s jobs report for April looked like a nice rebound from the soft report in March — suggesting the economy is finding its footing after a disappointing first quarter. Payrolls...
Larry Summers: How Fat Cats Use Journalists and Think Tanks to Buy Credibility

By Rob Garver

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said he is less concerned about big money in politics than he is about a more insidious threat to public discourse – something he calls the “shadow civil...

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