Federal Reserve System
Fed presidents play down discount hike
Regional Fed presidents William Dudley, Dennis Lockhart and Janet Yellen deny that rise in discount rate equates to the end of accommodative policy
Fed’s discount rate hike jolts markets
Federal Reserve firms exit strategy by lifting the rate at which it lends to banks by a quarter percentage point, markets teeter
Real-estate poses threat to recovery: Minneapolis Fed’s Kocherlakota
Minneapolis Fed president Narayana Kocherlakota echoes recent comments from other regional Fed leaders in his first speech, says recovery will be slow
The fight for the Fed
Malan Rietveld looks back at Ben Bernanke’s bruising confirmation hearings
Has Bernanke broken his promise to Friedman?
The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve have helped to avoid a second Great Depression, but Bernanke’s emphasis on credit has been misguided, says Tim Congdon
Audit the Federal Reserve?
An independent institute for monetary statistics is needed in the United States, says William Barnett. Expanded congressional audit would be a second best alternative.
Plosser defends regional Feds’ rate-setting role
Regional Fed presidents’ votes help link monetary policy with Main Street
Fed’s Hoenig flags independence threat from fiscal burden
Sole dissenter points to German hyperinflation and Fed’s kowtowing to Congress over Vietnam and Great Society as signs central bank could act on political pressure
Banks not withholding credit: Richmond Fed’s Lacker
Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker says the banking system as a whole was supplying a reasonable amount of credit, adds that despite improvements economy remained weak in the real estate sector and employment
US real-estate concern goes global
Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Guy Debelle says US commercial real estate woes may impose further crippling losses on banks
Mooted Fed policy shift presents dangers
Changing its operating target to the interest on reserves tool could be the best available fix for the Federal Reserve as it implements its exit strategy. But it is a process that poses risks
Community banks remain crucial for US economy
Chicago Federal Reserve summarises its conference on the impact of the financial crisis on community banks
Fed mulling switch to new policy rate
Federal Reserve’s Ben Bernanke says officials mooting the use of interest on reserves as benchmark target
Fed’s Kohn: don’t underestimate interest-rate risk
Federal Reserve’s Don Kohn says it is crucial interest-rate risk does not undermine the safety and soundness of the most important lenders
Ex-NY Fed chief opposes Volcker rule
Former New York Fed head Jerry Corrigan, now at Goldman Sachs, plays down impact of banks’ activities; warns against regulatory arbitrage
Fed’s independence in public’s interest: Bernanke
Ben Bernake says the Federal Reserve will work with Congress to ensure maximum transparency
US can go it alone on reforms: Volcker
Former Fed chairman Paul Volcker says international consensus on reform not necessary
Fed is best in crisis, says British think-tank
The Federal Reserve’s credit easing operations have fostered a quicker recovery than in the UK and eurozone, research finds
Fed could have done more: CEPR paper
A paper reviewing the Fed’s policy actions in the crisis finds that it could have pushed further, according to economic theory
Rate decisions this week
Majority of central banks to vote this week hold rates constant though dissent voiced in the US and South Africa; Philippines and India tighten, Hungary loosens
Senate backs Bernanke for second term
Lawmakers vote 70 to 30 in favour
Frank says Fed presidents shouldn’t vote on policy
Head of House Financial Services Committee labels heads of regional Federal Reserves “private citizens selected by other private citizens”
Kansas’s Hoenig dissents at FOMC meeting
Kansas Fed president Thomas Hoenig votes against action to keep promise of extremely accommodative policy
Keep the Fed away from politics: Dallas’s Fisher
Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher says allowing Congress to audit the Fed would be comparable to the governance crises of Weimar Germany and pre-Péron Argentina