Anniversary of a Fed Blunder
In the long, tragic chronicle of the Great Recession, April 30, 2008, doesn ’t resonate as an infamous date. It lacks the notoriety of March 16, 2008, when, by guaranteeing $30 billion of Bear Stearns’ assets, the Federal Reserve crossed a last-resort lending Rubicon, extending its safety net to an investment bank for the very first time. Nor does it conjure up headline s like those of September 15, 2008, when the Fed reversed course by letting Lehman Brothers — a much larger investment bank — go under.Yet April 30, 2008 was no less critical a turning point in the recession ’s history than these other dates, for ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 30, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: George Selgin Source Type: blogs
Must Rising Oil Prices Compel the Fed to Tighten More?
As crude oil prices recently approached $68 a barrel, aWall Street Journal writer concluded that “inflation fears got an added jolt this week as oil prices rose to a three-year high. ”Two otherWall Street Journal writers added that “If crude continues to move higher, it could begin to stifle economic growth.” They suggest that “higher consumer prices for gasoline and other energy products act like a tax, while pushing inflation higher and increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more aggressiv ely.” Such anxieties about $70 oil are obviously overwrought. Crude prices were usually ab...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 27, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Alan Reynolds Source Type: blogs
Show Me the (Education) Money, Part II!
Last week Iput up a post with charts showing total, per-pupil, public school spending between the 1999-00 and 2014-15 school years, as well as breaking out spending for a handful of states facing notable education unrest. Due to popular demand —if that’s what you call very mild comments from a few people on Twitter and Facebook—this post is going to break that spending into numerous subcategories used by the federal government inthe tables that formed the bases for most of the charts. This post will only look at aggregate national data, but next week I ’ll break down spending for those embattled states. Looking at...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 26, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Neal McCluskey Source Type: blogs
Clarida Nomination Completes the Fed's Triumvirate
Last week theWhite House announced that Richard Clarida will benominated to become Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board.More than a month ago, Clarida became the front-runner for the role. He is widely seen asa centrist anda pragmatist holding mostlyconventional views on monetary policy. Mostly.As Vice Chair, Clarida will be the third pillar of the Fed ’s new leadership, joining Chair Jerome Powell andrecently announced incoming NY Fed President John Williams. Having been an economics professor atColumbia University since 1988 and a Global Strategic Advisor atPacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) since 2006, C...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 25, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Tate Lacey Source Type: blogs
U.S. Approves Far Fewer Muslim Refugees, Immigrants, & Travelers
ConclusionPresident Trump appears to be fulfilling his campaign promise.
The United States is accepting the fewest Muslim refugees in
decades, and immigration from the Muslim world has received an
unprecedented cut under his administration. On the campaign trail,
President Trump assured voters that the Muslim ban would be a “temporary ban.” In the coming months, we will find out how
temporary these policies discouraging Muslim immigration turn out
to be. (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 23, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: David Bier Source Type: blogs
