by Dan Mitchell | Sep 22, 2011 | Blogs, Economics, Monetary Policy
In a move that some are calling QE3, the Federal Reserve announced yesterday that it will engage in a policy called “the twist” – selling short-term bonds and buying long-term bonds in hopes of artificially reducing long-term interest rates. If successful, this policy...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 28, 2011 | Blogs, Economics, Monetary Policy
I generally try to avoid commenting on monetary policy. Not because I don’t have opinions, but for the simple reason that I don’t follow the issue closely enough to feel fully confident about what I say. This doesn’t mean I’m happy with Fed Chairman Bernanke. But I’m...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 11, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Monetary Policy, Taxation
Allen Meltzer, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University, writes today in the Wall Street Journal about the Fed’s worrisome announcement that it will continue the easy-money policy of artificially low interest rates. Professor Meltzer’s key point (at least to me) is...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 15, 2011 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Ben Bernanke is definitely trying hard to overtake Arthur Burns and G. William Miller (those wonderful guys who helped give us the 1970s) as the worst Fed Chairman of the modern era. But unlike Burns and Miller, who “earned” their poor reputations with bad monetary...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 21, 2011 | Blogs, Economics, Monetary Policy
To put it mildly, the Federal Reserve has a dismal track record. It bears significant responsibility for almost every major economic upheaval of the past 100 years, including the Great Depression, the 1970s stagflation, and the recent financial crisis. Perhaps the...
