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...

Bernanke Was Right: Interest Rates Aren’t Going Anywhere

By Anthony Mirhaydari

Last week's Federal Reserve policy announcement was a big one. In response to a tightening in the labor market, the Fed set the stage for an interest rate hike possibly as soon as June by removing...
Medicare Recovers Nearly $28 Billion in Fraud Since 1997

By Charles Clark, Government Executive

A joint-agency pursuit of phony Medicare claims by the Justice and Health and Human Services departments returned $3.3 billion to the U.S. Treasury and to victims, an inspector general found. In its...
Stocks Have Scores of Reasons for New Volatility

By Patti Domm, CNBC

Stocks, stuck in their own zigzag pattern, remain vulnerable to the whims of unusually volatile currencies in the week ahead. As financial markets adjust to the Fed's latest guidance on rates,...
GAO: IRS Still Botching Security of Taxpayer Data

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

The Internal Revenue Service is failing to secure its massive computer systems--leaving taxpayer data vulnerable to fraudsters and hackers. That’s according to a new report from the Government...
Congress’ Medicare ‘Fix’ Could Leave Seniors Paying More

By David Dayen

Washington perpetually laments the loss of bipartisanship in this polarized political environment. But ordinary Americans might want to fear one example of bipartisanship’s return, and what it could...

Search form