The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced on Thursday that it had sold the last remaining securities from its Maiden Lane III portfolio, successfully closing the chapter on its assistance to insurance giant AIG. I thought this would be a good occasion to review the various measures that the Fed implemented over the last 5 years– what they were attended to accomplish, what they did accomplish, and the significance of Thursday’s announcement.
Author Archives: James_Hamilton
Federal receipts and expenditures
I was interested to take a look at the trends in receipts and expenditures of the U.S. federal government over the last 40 years.
The Ryan Plan and bipartisan compromise
I have a dream.
Recent developments in oil markets
The price of Brent crude oil fell $35/barrel between April and June. But increases this summer have taken about $25 of that back.
How long can Japanese bond prices defy gravity?
That’s the question posed in an interesting new paper by UCSD Professor Takeo Hoshi and University of Tokyo Professor Takatoshi Ito.
The Federal Reserve’s Maturity Extension Program and Treasury debt management
The Fed giveth and the Treasury taketh away.
Is this as good as it gets?
Several other new indicators confirm the message from the Q2 GDP report: the U.S. economy continues to grow, but at a discouragingly slow rate.
The Fed stands pat, at least for now
Today’s statement from the FOMC, the decision-making body for the Federal Reserve, basically said that, yes, the economy has worsened since the FOMC’s previous meeting, but no, they’re not going to do anything about it. At least, not right now.
Yet another discouraging GDP release
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday that U.S. real GDP grew at an anemic 1.5% annual rate during the second quarter. When the same bad thing keeps happening to you again and again, “disappointed” no longer seems the appropriate word to use.
The fiscal cliff and rationality
What should happen, what could happen, and what will happen?