Ultimately, Trump’s goal in criticizing the central bank seems to be distancing himself from any damage they inadvertently inflict on the economy. But the president has had the opportunity to pick a Fed board that would better reflect his own intuitions about interest rates. If his failure to do so backfires on the economy, he’ll deserve all the blame that inevitably comes his way.
Jordan Weissmann
Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts
01 November 2018
09 October 2018
Everything is going right for the Federal Reserve. It needs to change what it’s doing.
What the Fed needs, then, is a policy framework that gets interest rates up and keeps them there. Its 2 percent inflation target just isn't getting the job done. A 4 percent target might, or, if that was too much, maybe a more flexible 2 percent target that tried to make up for any past shortfalls by letting prices go up by more than that later so that inflation averaged 2 percent over the course of the business cycle. But somethingneeds to change. Otherwise, interest rates are going to keep falling to zero every time there's a recession, recessions are going to keep being worse than they need to be because the Fed will have trouble doing enough to help the economy, and recoveries are going to keep being slow for the same reason.
31 August 2018
Donald Trump Was Too Incompetent to Pick a Fed Chair He Agreed With, and Now He’s Mad About It
It would have been trivially easy for Trump to nominate a more dovish Fed chair better aligned with his own instincts on monetary policy. (“Hawkish“ central bankers are apt to raise interest rates, while “dovish” ones prefer to keep them low.) But Trump blew the call because he’s an incurious bullshitter who fails to do a modicum of basic homework before making major decisions, and is thus at the mercy of his advisers. While all presidents get advice from their advisers, and most presidents choose at least some officials who later go on to do things they don’t agree with, flubbing the Fed nomination in this way is indeed the kind of thing that could only happen to Trump.
Jordan Weissmann
Jordan Weissmann
20 August 2018
Bitcoin is still a total disaster
There’s one thing a currency is supposed to do that bitcoin never has. That’s maintain a stable value.
Indeed, as investment analyst Eddy Elfenbein points out, bitcoin has gone through four bear markets in 2018 alone. Now, maybe you don’t care if your money periodically loses 20 percent of its value, but most people tend to.
Matt O'Brien
Indeed, as investment analyst Eddy Elfenbein points out, bitcoin has gone through four bear markets in 2018 alone. Now, maybe you don’t care if your money periodically loses 20 percent of its value, but most people tend to.
Matt O'Brien
10 August 2018
11 July 2018
12 April 2018
28 February 2018
Fiscal Policy and the Price-Level
This post is me thinking out loud about how fiscal considerations may influence the price-level.
David Andolfatto
David Andolfatto
20 February 2018
Why Rising Wages Scare the Heck Out of Investors
The answer is a useful illustration of why the stock market is often a poor guide to the overall health of the economy.
Jordan Weissmann
Jordan Weissmann
13 February 2018
18 January 2018
Bitcoin is the new Middle Ages
Bitcoin changes prices too quickly to be a currency and processes transactions too slowly to be a payments system, but it is juuust right for teaching libertarians everything they don't know about economics.
Not that they're paying attention.
Matt O'Brien
Not that they're paying attention.
Matt O'Brien
12 January 2018
09 January 2018
08 January 2018
05 January 2018
The simple reason bitcoin will never be a currency
Just because you call something a currency doesn't mean it is one. It has to be a stable store of value that people actually use to buy things with.
Matt O'Brien
Matt O'Brien
01 January 2018
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