Category: Federal Reserve (Fed)

Fed Asks Americans for Feedback on a Central Bank Digital Currency—Here Are Some Responses

April 23, 2023
Business & MarketsCentral Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)economic policieseconomyFederal Reserve (Fed)MarketsPolicies & ImpactsUS
0 Comment

Americans are worried that a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) could end up compromising essential freedoms, further centralizing monetary policy, and making the country’s currency vulnerable to hacking, according to a recently published Fed survey. In January last year, the Fed published a white paper on what a CBDC could look like. It asked…

Read More

The Federal Reserve Has Only Limited Tools for Monetary Policy

March 31, 2023
Business & MarketsBusiness Columnistseconomic policieseconomyFederal Reserve (Fed)inflationInvestmentMarketsmonetary policyMonetary Policy Committeestocks
0 Comment

Commentary Recent turmoil in the banking sector has focused attention on the role of central banks, both in economies and in bank supervision and control.  This will discuss central banks, like the U.S. Federal Reserve, and some of the tools they use to implement their policies, which can be opaque to the average person. First,…

Read More

Housing Will Remain Depressed

January 20, 2023
Business & MarketsBusiness ColumnistsFederal Reserve (Fed)housingmortgage ratesOpinionThinking About ChinaViewpoints
0 Comment

Commentary With the Federal Reserve (Fed) committed to raising interest rates still further, the future of the housing market remains problematic. The higher mortgage rates rise, the less affordable housing will become for the average American. Buying and building will accordingly fall even farther than they already have. In time, however, a counter-trend will likely…

Read More

Dogma Trumps Democracy for America’s Climate Change Advocates

January 14, 2023
BusinessBusiness & MarketsBusiness Columnistsclimatedemocracyeconomic policieseconomyenergyFederal Reserve (Fed)Jerome H. Powell
0 Comment

Commentary Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dismissed the notion that the Federal Reserve should take a hand in making climate policy. “Without explicit congressional legislation, it would be inappropriate for us to use our monetary policy or supervisory tools to promote a greener economy or to achieve other climate-based goals,” he said at a forum…

Read More

Hong Kong Enters Economic Winter as the US Again Raises Interest Rate

October 1, 2022
Asia & PacificBusiness & MarketsChinaChina Business & EconomyeconomyFederal Reserve (Fed)HK BusinessHK Current AffairsHong KongHong Kong Monetary AuthorityinflationNouriel RoubiniWorld
0 Comment

HSBC, one of the banks in Hong Kong that issues banknotes, raised the Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) prime rate by 0.125 percent on Sept. 23. The raise came after the Federal Reserve (Fed) announced a 0.75 percent rate increase in the federal funds at midnight on Sept. 22. The rate hike signifies Hong Kong has…

Read More

Traders Bet the Fed Will Announce Smaller Interest Rate Hike as Economic Signals Weaken

July 19, 2022
Business & Marketseconomic policieseconomyFederal Reserve (Fed)inflationMarketsrecessionUSUS interest rates
0 Comment

Investors are increasingly betting on a 75-basis-point hike by the Federal Reserve at its July meeting, after almost two-thirds had predicted an increase of 100 basis points only a few days prior. During the week starting July 11, the markets briefly anticipated that the central bank would raise interest rates by a full percentage point….

Read More

Former Treasury Secretary Says Fed ‘Lost Its Way’ Focusing on Social Justice Instead of Inflation

July 18, 2022
Business & Marketseconomic policieseconomyFederal Reserve (Fed)high inflationinflationLarry Summerssocial justice warriorstransitoryUS
0 Comment

Larry Summers, who served as treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, has said the Federal Reserve failed to anticipate current inflation levels and that price increases can only be arrested by “dislocation” of the economy. “Frankly, I think in 2021, our central bank lost its way,” Summers said in a July 15 interview with Bloomberg’s “Wall…

Read More

Whither Goes Real Estate?

July 8, 2022
Business & MarketsBusiness ColumnistsFederal Reserve (Fed)HomebuyinginflationOpinionreal estateThinking About ChinaViewpoints
0 Comment

Commentary Real estate increasingly will face two contrary forces. On the one hand, buying will suffer as rising mortgage rates render home ownership less affordable. On the other hand, ongoing concerns about inflation will drive buyers into real estate, for history shows that it provides inflation protection for their wealth, especially in the face of…

Read More

Biden to Meet With Fed Chairman Jerome Powell About Inflation Crisis

May 31, 2022
Business & EconomyeconomyFederal Reserve (Fed)high inflationinflationjerome powellJoe BidenUSUS News
0 Comment

President Joe Biden is set to meet with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as American households grapple with the effects of high inflation. The meeting, which will take place on May 31, comes weeks after Powell’s second term as Fed Chair was confirmed by the Senate. Biden will congratulate Powell on the Senate confirmation during…

Read More