Bloomberg.com – Amity Shlaes: Greenspan Grapples for Stimulus With Ayn Rand Government squeezes out growth. That’s the underlying conclusion of an academic paper by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The article, which will appear this month in International Finance, a journal edited by my Council on Foreign Relations colleague Benn Steil, reviews a technical… Continue reading Greenspan Finds His Inner John Galt
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Monsters that lurk in the shadows of Wall St In the US, regulators are drawing up a list of “systemic” groups – cornerstones of the financial edifice whose failure would bring it tumbling down – that will be subject to tighter rules and oversight. All… Continue reading Regulating Shadow Banks
Zero Hedge (blog) – Charles Biderman On How The Fed Continues To Rig The Market And Why There Will Be A QE 3…And 4 The last time Charles Biderman appeared on CNBC, he was carted onstage (and promptly off) in the late hours before Christmas Eve, when it was virtually assured nobody would hear the… Continue reading Biderman Believes QE3 and QE4 Will Happen
Last week we hosted a conference call titled “Perspectives On Inflation.” The transcript is now available here: Perspectives on Inflation Audio Link of Conference Call Webcast Handout A transcript of the March 3, 2011 conference call. Highlights, we are going to break this down into three sections: “Actual Inflation,” “Inflation Expectations,” and “Is QE2 Inflationary.”… Continue reading Perspectives On Inflation
<Click on chart for larger image> Comment For more detail on the euro’s CoT data, click here. The Financial Times – Traders ‘short’ dollar as currency loses attraction Hedge funds and forex dealers are betting record amounts against the dollar, reflecting a growing belief that the US currency has lost its haven appeal and that… Continue reading Everyone Hates The Dollar … Again?
<Click on chart for larger image> Comment For more detail on the crude oil’s CoT data, click here. The Globe & Mail (Canada) – Crude in the extreme: Has oil price rally crossed the line? As oil surges across the $100 (U.S.) a barrel barrier again, you’ve got to wonder whether this milestone marks a… Continue reading Crude Oil Speculation
Bloomberg.com – Inflation Endangering China `Dream’ Spurs Wen Pledge on Prices Premier Wen Jiabao’s pledge to stem inflation in China underscored forecasts for more interest-rate increases as a jump in food and housing prices risks sparking public anger. Wen, in his opening speech to the annual National People’s Congress conclave in Beijing two days ago,… Continue reading Inflation
Zero Hedge (blog) – Larry Meyer’s Solution To Surging Oil Prices: “The Fed Should Cut Rates” For those who need a good laugh this Saturday evening, we turn our attention to the man who singlehandely made frontrunning the Fed a (somehow legal) artform: Macroeconomic Advisors’ Larry Meyer. This so-called pundit, who recently was caught in… Continue reading Larry Meyer Thinks The Federal Reserve Should Cut Rates In Response To Higher Oil Prices
<Click on chart for larger image> The Associated Press – After historic gains, are stocks nearing a bubble? Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke fielded the usual questions about inflation, tax cuts and government debt during a trip to Congress last week. Then a new question popped up: Is the Fed creating another bubble in stock… Continue reading The Stock Bull Market Enters Year Three
The Wall Street Journal – Fed Unlikely to Remove Its Economic Stimulus Just Yet Federal Reserve officials have grown more confident that a self-sustaining economic recovery is taking root in the U.S., but they want to see more evidence before they seriously consider how and when to pull back the enormous amounts of stimulus they… Continue reading The Federal Reserve
<Click on chart for larger image> The Guardian (UK) – Portugal hovers on the verge of crisis as eurozone argues over integration Portugal’s cost of borrowing is now over 7% and analysts believe a bailout is just weeks away. But help from the EU may be delayed by a damaging row over closer economic co-operation… Continue reading Portugal