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Bank Reserves: A Hot Potato

posted to Bob McTeer's Blog on Wed 22nd May 13

During the Q&A following Chairman Bernankes testimony before the Joint Economic Committee today, Senator Sanders said he was preparing legislation to prohibit the payment of interest on excess reserves, and, indeed, to require banks to pay to hold excess
Money Hoarding Versus Reserve Hoarding

posted to Bob McTeer's Blog on Thu 16th May 13

Jesse Eisinger, in a provocative article in todays New York Times, purportedly summarizes an argument on Fed policy between hedge fund managers and economists. After several such managers at a recent conference denounced the aggressive money-printing policies
Foreign Trades Impact on GDP

posted to Bob McTeer's Blog on Sun 5th May 13

The treatment of foreign trade statistics in the GDP estimates is tricky, confusing, and may contribute to an unwarranted aversion to imports. The reason is that we add categories of spending to get to GDP, but we subtract imports. For example, we add Consumption

The Fed Has Not Been Printing Boatloads of Money

posted to Bob McTeer's Blog on Thu 21st Mar 13

As I listen to commentary on cable TV about the Feds quantitative easing, I find it amazing that people smarter than I, as well as better trained and more knowledgeable about many things, keep making the same mistake they have made for the past three or four
Are Budget Deficits Inflationary?

posted to Bob McTeer's Blog on Wed 2nd Sep 09

When I was in graduate school in the olden days (1960s), Professor Waller hired me as his grader in his money and banking and monetary policy classes. At first, he limited my chores to multiple-choice and true-false questions, but he gradually trusted me with
Employment and Unemployment: The Razors Edge

posted to Bob McTeer's Blog on Thu 6th Aug 09

My local newspaper this morning showed a picture of a guy standing in a line of job seekers at a Career Expo. He had his cap on backwards.If, in the unlikely event, he were contacted for the household survey of employment, they would ask him if he had a job.

Weighing the Week Ahead: Interpreting Mixed Signals

posted to A Dash of Insight on Sun 21st Apr 13

The daily news from financial markets is often merely a footnote to events. Last week this was truer than ever. If you are a market professional it is your job to consider the effect of any event. The individual investor should have a different attitude. My
Just Where Is That Inflation Again?

posted to The Bonddad Blog on Tue 26th Mar 13

First, a big tip of the hat to Bob McTeer's Economic Policy Blog for providing the original inspiration for this post. The following is essentially an expansion on the previously linked post.For the last four years, there has been a continual call from
10 Friday AM Reads

posted to The Big Picture on Fri 22nd Mar 13

My morning reads: How to Fix the Cyprus Bank Disaster in 3 Steps (The Atlantic) Hong Kong Homes Face 20% Price Drop as Banks Raise Rates (Bloomberg) see also Asian Stocks Head for Largest Weekly Drop Since August (Bloomberg)Bob McTeer: No, The Fed Has Not Been