Tag: federal reserve
All eyes on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell as interest rates creep higher
With long-term U.S. interest rates creeping higher and the stock market rally looking increasingly bubblicious, market participants will have a keen eye on remarks by Fed chair Jerome Powell today at Princeton University. Why it matters: The uncertainty created by…
Democrats seek progressive overhaul of the U.S. financial system
Now in control of Congress, Democrats are looking to give the U.S. financial system a progressive overhaul, incoming Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown said Friday. It will be a tall task. What we’re hearing: “This committee in the past has…
2021 will harden the winners’ and losers’ brackets created by the pandemic economy
Heading into 2021, the economy is in a state of gross divergence, presenting opposing narratives that are drifting further apart, creating ostensible winners’ and losers’ brackets. Why it matters: The pandemic has accelerated shifts in the economic makeup of the…
No spare change: how charities, buskers and beggars aren’t feeling so festive in our cashless society
Collectors for the Paralympic Games carried donation buckets ahead of the recent Santa parade in Auckland, asking for gold coin donations. Onlookers shrugged them off: “Sorry, no cash on me!” To the rescue, a charity volunteer waved a contactless “tap-and-go”…
Progressives give up trying to convince Biden on personnel, shift to policy
Some progressives tell Axios they believe the window for influencing President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet selections has closed, and they’re shifting focus to policy — hoping to shape Biden’s agenda even before he’s sworn in. Why it matters: The left wing…
Bitcoin’s rebound: 3 reasons this time is (sort of) different
Bitcoin is back. Three years after the bubble that inflated its value from US$5,000 to US$20,000 in less than three months burst in spectacular fashion, plunging more than 80%, the cryptocurrency is again on the verge of a record high.…
Vital Signs: Janet Yellen, the very model of a modern Madam Secretary
It is widely tipped that US president-elect Joe Biden will nominate Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary – one of the most important posts in any administration. She will make for a terrific Treasury Secretary, bringing with her a wealth of…
From here on our recovery will need more than fiscal policy, it’ll need redistribution
From the 1980s right through to the global financial crisis, the standard response in Australia and elsewhere to too weak or too strong an economy has been monetary policy — the manipulation of interest rates by a central bank, in…
Mnuchin to the Main Street Lending Program: Drop Dead
Great expectations, dashed. That’s the overwhelming sentiment from the business community after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin withdrew support for several emergency loan programs created with the Federal Reserve. The programs are set to expire at the end of this year. In a…
Vital Signs: a global carbon price could soon be a reality – Australia should prepare
As well as restoring dignity to the Oval Office, another thing that will definitely change under a Biden presidency is US policy on the environment. Biden’s plan for “a clean energy revolution and environmental justice” includes rejoining the Paris Agreement…
Facebook’s Authoritarian Money Grab
“Don’t be surprised,” said Terence Ray, one of the hosts of the Whitesburg, Ky.-based podcast “The Trillbillies,” “if Mark Zuckerberg starts trying to pay his employees in ‘Facebook Bucks.’ ” Ray made that comment in late May during a Means…
