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.
A Debate in Foreign Affairs: Stimulus or Reform
From an exchange in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs, with Raghuram Rajan, Karl Smith and myself. I write in my comment:
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.
Guest Contribution: “Sticky Prices, Store-Switching, and Effective Price Flexibility”
Today, we are fortunate to have a guest contribution written by Olivier Coibion (UT Austin), Yuriy Gorodnichenko (UC Berkeley), and Gee Hee Hong (Bank of Canada); it is based on The Cyclicality of Sales, Regular and Effective Prices: Business Cycle and Policy Implications.
The Ryan Plan and bipartisan compromise
I have a dream.
Romney Campaign on the Tax Policy Center study: “Objective, Third-Party Analysis”
Or, he was for the Tax Policy Center before he was against the Tax Policy Center, and how to assess think tank research.
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.
Central Bank Balance Sheets and Inflation
Given several prominent policymakers have worried about central bank actions leading to high inflation, (e.g. Representative Ryan) it seems reasonable to see how expansions in central bank balance sheets correlate with inflation.
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.
Representative Paul Ryan’s Economic Weltanschauung
Recapping my analyses of his budgetary and macroeconomic views, including supply side, interest and inflation rates, and command of economic history.