How shall we describe what happened this weekend with Bear Stearns? The first big casualty of the credit crisis, yes. Bailout, no.
Author Archives: James_Hamilton
March madness
No, I’m not talking about the credit markets– I’ll take those up in my next post, I promise. But first I need to discuss something really important, namely, the men’s college basketball tournament.
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.
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.
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.”
Has the recession started?
The latest employment numbers suggest that the tide has turned.
Commodity prices and the Fed
If the Fed thinks that recent commodity price moves have nothing to do with their own actions, perhaps they should think again.
It’s not just housing any more
Not a good start to the week week for those holding on to hopes that the U.S. will avoid a recession.
Just how badly is the U.S. economy doing?
That’s the topic of a piece I wrote for today’s San Diego Union-Tribune.
Bernanke’s tightrope act
Some analysts are saying that Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is walking a tightrope– if he does not drop interest rates quickly enough, the U.S. will be in recession, but if he goes too far, we’ll see a resurgence of inflation. I am increasingly persuaded that’s not an accurate description of the situation.