Federal Reserve System
Fed paper examines commodity price correlation
Study find lower interest rates capable of smoothing price divergences
Fed paper assesses impact of government funding on loan provision
Study by Cleveland Fed examines a US scheme designed to boost lending to low-income but high-quality borrowers
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: How governments are undermining world finance
Central bankers need to forcefully express their concerns about the unintended consequences of new regulatory policies
Bernanke steps up pressure for action on fiscal cliff
Fed chairman warns of damaging effects of uncertainty over ‘fiscal cliff’ on the economy; says plan for long-term debt sustainability would reinforce confidence and promote recovery
Fed paper assesses German ‘debt brake’
Study finds a rule intended to lower government deficit in Germany helps stabilise the country’s private sector
Fed’s Dudley says too-big-to-fail issue unresolved
New York Fed chief rejects the idea of breaking up large and complex banks – for now
Fed includes ‘doomsday scenario’ in next round of stress tests
Baseline, adverse and severely adverse scenarios specified in preparation for 2013 stress testing; 'severely adverse' would cover failure to resolve ‘fiscal cliff'
Philadelphia paper praises macro-prudential potential
Macro-prudential policy is a more efficient way to control credit than monetary policy – and it has a limited impact on inflation
Central bank gold purchases slow in third quarter
Growth of net central bank gold holdings in third quarter remains positive but decelerates compared with similar period in 2011; year-to-date holdings up 9%
Fed could extend asset purchases, minutes show
Some FOMC members say additional asset purchases likely to be needed next year to generate sustained improvement in labour market
Yellen wants more transparency and a change in forward guidance
Federal Reserve vice-chair Janet Yellen calls for more transparency and supports replacing the calendar date in the Fed’s forward guidance with economic conditions needed to lift the funds rate
European fiscal stimulus assessed by Fed paper
Economic Recovery Plan had a sizeable but short-lived impact on GDP
Fed paper presents improved model of inflation and unemployment
Authors develop a bivariate model that they believe improves upon univariate benchmarks
QE sliced unemployment by 1.5 points, says Fed’s Williams
San Francisco Fed president says Fed's forward guidance on rates has narrowed Treasury yields by 15-20 basis points, about the same amount as QE2; asset purchases have cut unemployment by 1.5 points
Fed study shows US banks still wary of lending to European peers
US banks are continuing to tighten lending standards to their European counterparts with some winning additional business as a result of reduced competition from European banks, Fed study finds
Hurricane Sandy disrupts Federal Reserve operations
New York Federal Reserve suspended operations for a day as hurricane battered eastern US; temporary measures taken to support banking in face of disruptions to power, communications and staffing
RBNZ’s new governor rejects QE and capital controls
Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Graeme Wheeler sees no need to introduce a ‘desperate’ measure such as quantitative easing in the country; rules out use of capital controls to limit kiwi dollar appreciation
Fed’s QE2 will have ‘modest impact’, says San Francisco paper
Research by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimates the second round of Fed quantitative easing will have only a small effect on GDP growth and inflation
Fed holds fire on further easing
Federal Open Market Committee votes to hold federal funds rate and maintain current scale of asset purchases; concerns persist over labour market conditions, raising possibility of further stimulus
Fed’s Dudley says FOMC policy actions were justified
New York Fed president William Dudley defends asset purchases from critics. But market response to QE remains muted
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Fixing banks and regulation
Central bank balance sheets are ballooning due to the failure of banking systems and new rules are unlikely to address the issue. Only a full legal separation of banking activities will do.
IMF meeting set to reinforce global pessimism
Governments need to take urgent policy action to capitalise on the ‘breathing space’ created by central banks. But few attending the IMF meeting in Tokyo believe law-makers are fit for the task
Fed’s Tarullo says Dodd-Frank requires ‘extensive elaboration’
Daniel Tarullo highlights challenges in producing details of Dodd-Frank Act regulations; suggests limits to mergers by large banks and says SEC should strengthen money market fund regulation
Moderate economic expansion reported in Fed’s Beige Book
Survey of economic conditions in Fed districts finds moderate increase in economic activity; New York district bucking trend