I guess there’s some competition but this to me is clearly the chart of the day:
Ha, no, not really. But actually it is pretty neat:
The Federal Reserve on Friday released blank templates showing the format of the two charts it will use on January 25 to report Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants’ projections of the appropriate target federal funds rate. It also released a draft of an explanatory note that will accompany the projections.
The first chart, which will have shaded bars when released on January 25, will show FOMC participants’ projections for the timing of the initial increase in the target federal funds rate. The second chart, which will have dots representing policymakers’ individual projections when released on January 25, will show participants’ views of the appropriate path of the federal funds rate over the next several years and in the longer run.
Bars and dots! What’s not to like? The actual form, in its forlorn blankness, has the look of an exam you’re supposed to fill out,* and there’s this: Continue reading »
As you may have heard, the Federal Reserve is now releasing transcripts of its FOMC meetings, in an effort to be open and honest with the public about what it is they do all day. Out this morning are the minutes from 2006′s get-togethers and one thing that stands out is how much fun these guys are having without us! In fact, they spent most of 2006 in stitches, as evidenced by the amount of material The Economist was able to compile under “comments from the Federal Open Market Committee meetings which resulted in laughter.” They’ve got their beard jokes (Mr. Poole: “Okay. Mr. Chairman, it is a great delight to see a 200 percent increase in the number of beards around this table. [Laughter]“), their penis innuendos (Chairman Bernanke: “Still pretty large. [Laughter]“), and their deep nerd humor (“Again, within the normal errors of Okun’s law—despite its name “law,” it’s a pretty loose empirical relationship [laughter]“). But the biggest laugh riot which still holds up today and unquestionably has Alan Greenspan pissing his pants in laughter as he reads it at home? Continue reading »
If you like mortgages you should read this Fed white paper for Congress on the housing market though I sort of get the sense that Ben Bernanke’s heart isn’t in it. As he says, “Our goal is not to provide a detailed blueprint, but rather to outline issues and tradeoffs that policymakers might consider,” which is quite white-papery of him; the lack of enthusiasm for finding an actionable plan probably comes from the facts that (1) these issues are quite hard and (2) no one will do anything about it anyway because it’s Congress.
So the white paper does in fact mostly lay out tradeoffs that you can ponder quietly, like the one where nobody is lending (bad!) because nobody is confident that they can meet GSE underwriting standards (hmm, we want banks to not sell crap loans to Fannie and Freddie, right?). Or the suggestion, which has been kicked around for a while, to convert foreclosed homes into rentals, which on the one hand:
[Real estate owned] holders will likely get better pricing on these sales if the program is designed to be attractive to a wide variety of investors. Selling to third-party investors via competitive auction processes may also improve the loss recoveries.
But on the other hand: Continue reading »
But what can he expect, really? So typical. Continue reading »
Mr. Bernanke said the U.S. recovery, now more than two-and-a-half years old, continues to be “modest.” He conceded the pace of growth has been slower than what the Fed expected. But he was more optimistic about the long run, saying the economy hasn’t been permanently scarred by the financial crisis. “Although important problems certainly exist, the growth fundamentals of the United States do not appear to have been permanently altered by the shocks of the past four years,” the Fed chief told the gathering, which this year focuses on long-term growth prospects for the global economy. [WSJ]
“Now we have a Southern governor, I can’t remember his name. He makes me look like a moderate. I have never once suggested Bernanke committed treason.” [Daily Intel, earlier]
“If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous in my opinion.” Continue reading »
Earlier today, Ben Bernanke had the pleasure of sitting down for a little Q&A with Congress about the economy. Former Real World cast member Sean Duffy inquired as to whether or not raising taxes would hurt job growth. Ron Paul asked if gold is money and had his mind blown when he was told it was not. And Maxine Waters wanted to know why two white bitches got money from TALF when minority-owned banks didn’t see a dime. Continue reading »
Let’s pause for a minute and talk about how Ben Bernanke has now confessed that he’s nothing but a tool of the fractional reserve conspiracy that has inflated the global ponzi scheme and destroyed American prosperity and power with its worthless fiat money. Thank hero Ron Paul for finally getting him to admit the truth:
Ron Paul: Do you think gold is money?
Bernanke: [long pause, stares into space, ponders how pretty the flowers must be in Princeton this time of year] No. It’s a precious metal.
Ron Paul: It’s not money? Even if it has been money for 6,000 years*, somebody reversed that, eliminated that economic law?
Bernanke: Well, it’s, y’know, it’s an asset. It’s the same — would you say Treasury bills are money? I don’t think they’re money either but they’re a financial asset.
Ron Paul: Why do central banks hold it if it’s not money?
Bernanke: Well, it’s a form of reserves.
Ron Paul: Why don’t they hold diamonds?
Bernanke: Well it’s tradition, long-term tradition.
Ron Paul: [laughs derisively] Some people still think it’s money.
Continue reading »
“If [Ben Bernanke and other leading figures in the Federal Reserve] really told us what they are talking about after three glasses of wine late at night, the markets would wet their pants and it would be all over,” Mauldin said. [CNBC]
