Also featured yesterday at the Federal Reserve conference in Jackson Hole were speeches by Fed Chair Ben Bernanke and former Fed Governor Edward Gramlich.
Author Archives: James_Hamilton
Report from Jackson Hole
Here are some brief impressions about this morning’s papers at the Federal Reserve conference.
Update on the fed funds market
As noted by Calculated Risk and William Polley, the last few days we’ve seen the return of slightly more normal behavior in the overnight market for fed funds.
Solutions to the mortgage problem
Quick links to a few of the suggestions out there on what to do about pending mortgage defaults.
San Diego plans for the future
With all the excitement over the last few weeks, I never had a chance to mention this remarkable account of the long-run vision of San Diego’s City Council.
Latest economic indicators
New home sales picked up in July, and new orders for durable and capital goods grew strongly. But that was then and this is now.
Whee!
Who knew holding short-term Treasuries could be so exciting?
What does the cut in the Fed’s discount rate signal?
Some analysts, and perhaps the market, seemed to view Friday’s cut in the Federal Reserve discount rate as a first step in lowering interest rates generally. That view may prove to be correct, though I’m inclined to look first for an explanation in terms of the narrow tactical challenges of managing current liquidity needs.
Where’s the risk?
Usually an economic downturn is associated in a big increase in the spread between corporate and Treasury yields. This spiked pretty dramatically last week, but still has a long way to go.
Another roller coaster week
Glad I wasn’t trying to provide a play-by-play explanation of fed funds futures last week. But whatever was going on, we seemed to end up with the same conclusion with which the week began.