Here I make two quick observations on the policies being discussed.
Author Archives: James_Hamilton
Evaluating QE2
On November 3, the Federal Reserve announced some new monetary policy measures that have been popularly (if perhaps inaccurately) referred to as a second round of quantitative easing, or QE2. What effects, if any, does QE2 seem to have had so far?
Worrying about oil prices
The price of oil moved above $90 a barrel yesterday. Is it time to become concerned about the possible macroeconomic effects?
Still no strength in this rebound
The new news looks to me like the same old news.
Europe and China: is this deja vu all over again?
The autumn of 2010 is in some ways a replay of what we saw last spring. Is what we saw then a guide to what’s going to happen next?
Peak oil in Pennsylvania
Here I pass along a few items on the early history of the oil industry that I found interesting.
The Fed’s communication problem
The start of the FOMC’s November meeting is described in the minutes released yesterday as follows:
The meeting opened with a short discussion regarding communicating with the public about monetary policy deliberations and decisions. Meeting participants supported a review of the Committee’s communication guidelines with the aim of ensuring that the public is well informed about monetary policy issues while preserving the necessary confidentiality of policy discussions until their scheduled release. Governor Yellen agreed to chair a subcommittee to conduct such a review.
Here I provide some suggestions for Governor Yellen’s subcommittee to consider.
Answering the bunnies
A cartoon has been making the rounds (e.g., Forbes, Zero Hedge, and Real Clear Politics) in which cartoon characters (bunnies maybe? or perhaps some other life form) ask questions about quantitative easing. I would have provided slightly different answers than did the didactic character in the cartoon, so I thought it might be fun to interject myself as a third character in the bunnies’ conversation.
Billion prices project
Justin Lahart is among those calling attention to the Billion Prices Project of MIT Professors Roberto Rigobon and Alberto Cavallo.
Commodity inflation
I guess now we know that the Fed has the tools to prevent deflation.