quantitative easing

Earlier this morning I tweeted an old blog post I wrote two years ago because I think it's relevant to what's happening in the economy right now. And so, I want to use this post to explain what that old post was about, and how that old post…

At first, I called this post "More on Quarles and the introduction of a standing repo facility". But that's not a sexy title is it? That's because repo isn't a sexy topic. I think it's important though. If we have a liquidity crisis though,…

No major catalysts in either direction Right now, there are no major stories that I think will have any meaningful near-term impact on asset markets. We're definitely still in  a risk-on market phase. And ostensibly, this is largely because…

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The US jobs number just came out and the figures were quite good. Two-year yields spiked on the news.

In the next recession, muni bonds will be hit and local governments will default. The Fed will use Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act to buy municipal paper. And if they need even more authority, Congress will grant it.

Many US public sector pension funds are underfunded. This will impact local governments' solvency in the next downturn. It could also threaten the safety and security of the municipal bond market. So the Fed may end up playing a role.

Fed Governor Jerome Powell recommended a June hike and 2017 balance sheet reductions, in one of the last public speeches by a Fed official before the June FOMC meeting. When the Fed follows Powell’s game plan, we will be in the unchartered…

The Eurozone economy is doing really well. Some data points to 3% growth. The German economy is doing even better – with some data pointing to 5% annualized growth. But there’s a downside – overheating. And with the ECB at negative rates…

The consensus for the March jobs report is for an addition of 178,000 jobs. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.7%. Other data show the risk is to the upside here.