monetary policy

Last August, the Fed went for what I call "rate easing". If the economy weakens this year what will it do? I am not convinced it will be quantitative easing. In general, I think the Fed, while looking to support the growth side of its dual…

Sweden reported stronger business and manufacturing confidence numbers earlier this week, but the Feb retail sales report was a more significant catalyst. There are four new developments from Norway today. Individually and collectively,…

The forecasting proficiency of central bankers is a topical issue. At least, a friend asked if I could help with a list of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's predictions. The list stops in 2008, although he has been no more accurate…

Below is a video excerpt of the interview US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke conducted with ABC News' Diane Sawyer earlier this week. Below that is the transcript.

This one's short today as I am running out of time. I posted earlier regarding Bill Gross' comments about the Fed doing a mortgage-backed QE3. There's nothing fundamentally off about this call. But we really aren't there yet as it is wholly…

The following transcript and video is courtesy of Bloomberg TV where Bill Gross spoke to Margaret Brennan today, telling her that he thinks the Fed will go Qe3, but that it will shift to mortgage backed securities when Operation Twist ends…

Bill Gross is out with his monthly commentary. Because his points are central to the discussion of policy and markets right now, I am going to write this weekly newsletter commentary outside the paywall. The major question is about how to…

Judging from the press coverage, we suspect many observers have misunderstood Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's comments yesterday. They need to be placed in the context of what went before: namely several hawkish regional presidents…

I missed this one from Omid Malekan a few weeks back but it's a good primer on gas/petrol prices for those of you who are interested.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's lecture series at George Washington University is most unfortunate. The first instinct, at least here, is to let it pass. Two of the man's characteristics will be addressed in what follows. First, his…