Currently, net exports are one of the few bright spots in the US economy. As Krugman points out, this is the one area where monetary policy is proving effective: by driving down the value of the dollar, expenditure switching is being induced.
Monthly Archives: March 2008
President Bush Discusses Economy
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for coming by today to talk about the economic situation — we’ll be meeting later on this afternoon with the President’s Task Force on Financial Markets.
TSLF
Last week the Fed announced yet another new measure to deal with the ongoing problems in credit markets in the form of a just-created
Term Securities Lending Facility, which we’re apparently invited to refer to affectionately as a TSLF.
“Harvard’s Feldstein Says U.S. Economy in Recession”
Looking even more like a recession
The Census Bureau announced yesterday that the seasonally adjusted nominal dollar value of retail and food services sales fell by 0.6% between January and February, the worst monthly performance since June’s -0.8% value.
“Bush Would Like a Stronger Dollar”
That’s the title of a post in today’s WSJ RealTime Economics:
President George W. Bush said in an interview today with Nightly Business Report that the dollar’s fall to record lows against the euro is not a good thing and he “absolutely” wants a stronger dollar. Excerpts:
Asking too much of monetary policy
I remember a Federal Reserve economist once recounting a conversation with his young daughter, who asked him, “What do you do at work, Daddy?” He answered, “I help make important decisions.” “What kind of decisions, Daddy?” “Oh, things like how much money the government needs to print.”
Pretty Darn Good…(An Update on “Two Recession Bush Presidency?”)
Two months ago, I posed the question “What Are the Prospects for a Two Recession Bush Presidency?” I think the answer is indeed “pretty good”, given the recent data.
Has the recession started?
The latest employment numbers suggest that the tide has turned.
Three Pictures from the Labor Market
From yesterday’s White House press conference: