Federal Reserve System
Kohn going to be next Fed vice-chairman
US president George W. Bush on Thursday 18 May announced plans to nominate Fed governor Donald Kohn to be vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Fed's Kohn on the evolving financial system
In the speech 'The evolving nature of the financial system: Financial crises and the role of the central bank' given on 18 May Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve said U.S. bank regulators are focused on encouraging market discipline, sound risk…
Fed's Bernanke on Basel II
In the speech 'Basel II: Its promise and its challenges' given on 18 May Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said federal banking regulators will press ahead on a sweeping plan aimed at improving risk management for the country's largest and most…
Fed's Bernanke on hedge funds and systemic risk
In the speech 'Hedge funds and systemic risk' given on 16 May Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said financial authorities must stay attuned to any potential risks posed by the growth of hedge funds, an investment domain of the wealthy that has become…
NY Fed's Geithner on financial stability
In the speech 'Implications of growth in credit derivatives for financial stability' given on 16 May Timothy Geithner of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said banks and other financial players must be cautious in their use of credit derivatives.
Phil Fed's Survey of Professional Forecasters
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia published its Second Quarter 2006 Survey of Professional Forecasters on 15 May. Stronger growth in real GDP this year will come at the expense of weaker growth next year, according to 53 forecasters surveyed.
Fed's Bies on implementing Basel II
In the speech 'Implementing Basel II: Choices and challenges' given on 16 May Susan Schmidt Bies of the Federal Reserve said the Federal Reserve will conduct "ongoing, detailed" analyses to ensure new bank capital rules, when implemented, do not lead to…
Comment: Inflation expectations
Ever since Milton Friedman's famous analysis of the "leads and lags" between interest rate changes and price- and output movements in 1961, the need for "forward-looking" monetary policy has been universally accepted.
How Bernanke's rate hikes could slam China
According to this article published Monday 15 May, China is realising the power of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on its way to ruling the global economy.
Fed's Kohn on investing in payment innovations
In the speech 'Investing in payment innovations: A Federal Reserve perspective' given on 11 May Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve said changing electronic payment systems benefit both institutions and consumers, but also expose them to new risks,…
Richmond Fed welcomes chief HR officer
Tammy H. Cummings will join the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond as vice president of human resources for the Fifth District, effective 15 May.
The little-noticed 'yet' in the Fed's statement
According to this article by John Berry, published Thursday 11 May, it was in the FOMC's statement explaining what may come next that "yet" appeared, signalling that after boosting the target at 16 consecutive meetings the committee probably will take a…
The origins of bubbles in laboratory asset markets
The authors of this Atlanta Fed Working Paper, published May 2006, conduct experiments that are designed to investigate individual probability judgment error and speculative behaviour. They find that both factors contribute to the creation of asset price…
Fed Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, May/Jun 2006
The latest edition of the St Louis Fed's Review for May/Jun 2006 includes the article 'The learnability criterion and monetary policy'. The paper reviews some recent research that has emphasized methods for analyzing models of learning, in which…
Central bank intervention and ex rate volatility
The St Louis Fed Working Paper "Central bank intervention and exchange rate volatility, its continuous and jump components" analyses the relationship between interventions and volatility at daily and intra-daily frequencies for the two major exchange…
A hands-off central banker?
According to the Working Paper "A hands-off central banker? Marriner S. Eccles and the Federal Reserve Policy, 1934-1951" published April 2006, the Federal Reserve after 1935 acquired new instruments to command monetary policy, but it did not change its…
Wages no bar to Fed pause after move tomorrow
There's no reason for Federal Reserve officials to stop thinking about a pause in raising interest rates after going to 5 percent when they meet tomorrow (Wednesday), according to this article published Tuesday 9 May.
Former Fed economist urges more transparency
There is cautious optimism that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will bring real transparency to the US central bank, this article published Monday 8 May says.
Bush sees no credibility problem for Bernanke
US President George Bush said in an interview on Friday 5 May that new Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke did not have a credibility problem.
Kansas Fed's Payments system research briefing
The Kansas City Fed's Payments system research briefing for May 2006, examines the potential for fraud associated with various "traditional" payment methods and the protective measures that consumers should take when using them.
U.K. inflation targeting and the exchange rate
This St Louis Fed Working Paper, published May 2006, considers whether it is welfare-reducing to target inflation in the CPI rather than in a narrower index.
New York Fed's Foreign Exchange Operations Report
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Treasury and Federal Reserve Foreign Exchange Operations quarterly report for January-March 2006, published 4 May, the U.S. monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during…
Chairman Bernanke's clarity issue
According to this article published Thursday 4 May, while Ben Bernanke is unlikely to make radical changes in the statement issued after the next FOMC meeting, Fed watchers say he could aid his cause by eventually disclosing the central bank's forecasts…
Fed's Bies on current bank capital and market risk
In the speech 'Supervisory perspective on current bank capital, market risk, and loan product issues' given on 4 May Susan Schmidt Bies of the Federal Reserve said top bank managers must be involved to make sure their institutions' exposure to risks is…