Free Republic

It is worthwhile noting that inflation as a factor of global economic security has the innate capacity to upend carefully laid plans and further upset the equilibrium, being a source of economic hardship that only a limited number of state actors can affect via their national policies argue former Reagan advisor Dr Norman Bailey and Dr Alexander Mirtchev Governments everywhere are responding by devaluing currencies, applying price restrictions, raising interest rates or imposing currency controls — in a way, true to the legacy of Diocletian. In some cases, they are attempting to obfuscate price increases — by changing definitions, altering...

Confronted by multiple challenges in the wake of the global financial and economic crisis and having exhausted more traditional central bank levers which left interest rates at near zero, governments adopted a series of policies almost as a matter of course. Whether termed ‘credit easing’, ‘quantitative easing’ or ‘twisting’, these policies all have one thing in common – they increase the money supply... Further complicating the book keeping, some central banks, most significantly the U.S. Federal Reserve, are maintaining the policy of directly monetizing the federal debt. To be clear, debt monetization is not a result of the 2008-2009 crisis;...

Republican Leaders Warn Bernanke Against QE3 Zeke Miller Sep. 20, 2011, 7:13 PM | Top Republican lawmakers in both chambers of Congress warned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke against pursuing another round of quantitative easing after tomorrow's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Questioning the efficacy of the first two rounds of monetary easing, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said they are concerned another round of QE could "exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy." Here's...

Goldman: The US Economy Described In 5 Lines Joe Weisenthal Sep. 5, 2011, 6:37 AM From Goldman's Andrew Tilton, the state of the economy right now. ----- 1. The US economy has not fallen off a cliff, despite the “confidence shock” precipitated by the debt ceiling impasse, the downgrade of the US sovereign rating, and the financial market turmoil of recent weeks. 2. The August employment report was weak but not recessionary. The payroll survey was very disappointing, with no job growth, a drop in weekly hours, and a decline in hourly earnings. But the household survey posted a decent...

Brad DeLong Describes The Only Form Of Quantitative Easing That Has Any Hope Of Working Joe Weisenthal Oct. 24, 2010, 6:34 PM Nobody will defend the idea that quantitative easing can work without concurrent fiscal stimulus. In an economy that's deleveraging, pushing rates lower won't do anything. So what's the Fed to do in an environment where, thanks to the political situation, fiscal stimulus is impossible? Basically, quasi-fiscal stimulus. Brad Delong describes this: ...a quantitative easing program that is going to have bite should involve Federal Reserve purchases of long-term risky private assets rather than merely long-term U.S. Treasuries. Hiring...

RUMOR: China And US Working On Deal To Make QE Smaller, Yuan Appreciation Bigger Gregory White Oct. 14, 2010, 9:33 AM China and the U.S. are working on a deal that would see a smaller second round of quantitative easing in the U.S. in exchange for a more aggressive revaluation of the yuan, according to a rumor tweeted by Neil Hume of FT Alphaville. Obviously, this may just be that, a rumor. But gold has moved lower in the past few minutes, and that may have something to do with the rumored deal-making.[snip]

Global Markets Brace For More QE As The Fed Powers Up The Printing Presses by: Michael T. Snyder September 29, 2010 What in the world is going on over at the Federal Reserve? Has it gotten to the point where the Federal Reserve is completely and totally out of control? There is increasing speculation in the financial community that the Federal Reserve is on the verge of unleashing another round of quantitative easing. In fact, at their September meeting, Federal Reserve officials hinted very strongly that quantitative easing is very much on their minds when they stated that the Federal...

The Euro Is Sliding Again And The Week's Barely Started -- Meanwhile Trichet Scoffs At German Inflation Fears Joe Weisenthal May. 16, 2010, 6:00 PM There's still over 2 hours before markets really get going -- Tokyo opens at 8:00 PM ET -- but in very early action the euro is already falling. Bloomberg reports trades as low as $1.2338 in early Japanese trading. Expect to hear the word "parity" a lot in the coming days ahead, even though that's a long way off. Meanwhile, the man at the center of the storm, Jean-Claude Trichet gave an interview with Der...