EconoMonitor

THE $29 TRILLION BAILOUT OF WALL STREET: Why Should Anyone Care About High Crimes and Misdemeanors?

February 7, 2025January 11, 2012 by L. Randall Wray

I previously summarized research that two of my graduate students, James Felkerson and Nicola Matthews, are conducting on the Fed’s bail-out. Using data that the Fed was forced to release, they demonstrated that the cumulative total lent and spent on assets by the Fed was over $29 trillion. (See the first paper here: http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/?docid=1462) Their … Read more

I’ll Never Ever Criticize the Central Bank of Turkey Again!

January 30, 2025January 11, 2012 by Emre Deliveli

I know this is a promise I won’t be able to keep, but I just want to have that title as a reminder to myself to empathize with the Central Bank of Turkey the next time I feel criticizing its policies or governor, as I was doing in my last Hurriyet Daily News column, which … Read more

If No Trade Reversal Now, Then When?

February 7, 2025January 9, 2012 by Michael Pettis

Europe’s underlying problem is not budget deficits or even unsustainable debt. These are mainly symptoms. The real problem with Europe is the huge divergence in costs between the core and the periphery – in the past decade costs between Germany and some of the peripheral countries have diverged by anywhere from 20% to 40%. This … Read more

Best Jobs Report in a Long Time Leads Off the Election Season

February 7, 2025January 6, 2012 by Ed Dolan

Everyone knows what this election will be about: jobs, jobs, jobs. If so, the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics should shake things up a little. The headline number in the report is a relatively robust gain of 200,000 jobs in December, confirming that the jobs market is picking up after a mid-year … Read more

European Daily Catch: Unemployment and Retail

February 7, 2025January 6, 2012 by Rebecca Wilder

Global labor reports prevailed today, but the US employment report took center stage. I’ll not comment on that report, so as to keep with my generally all things European theme here at The Wilder View. However, a quick sift through my feed reveals rather cynical takes: see Dean Baker’s comments here and here; Spencer’s take here; Jake’s … Read more

Have Iran’s Leaders Vowed to Destroy Israel?

February 6, 2025January 6, 2012 by Fabius Maximus

Summary: Here we look at the basis of the “Iran plans to commit genocide” meme. It’s at best an exaggeration, and said only once by an Iranian leader. Through repetition of the story Americans believe it to be the official national policy of Iran (yes, propaganda works). War hawks frequently draw analogies between Iran and NAZI Germany. Historians will note … Read more

What Is a Safe Asset?

February 6, 2025January 5, 2012 by Rebecca Wilder

Last month, David Beckworth at Macro and Other Market Musings had some interesting thoughts on the global shortage of safe assets. His essay got me thinking about what is a safe asset? Beckworth alludes to two definitions of ‘safe’: (1) a credit being AAA-rated, (2) satisfying a certain level of liquidity to be used in repo markets (an … Read more

Looking Forward in the New Year: Crowding Out and Hyper-Inflation Watch

February 6, 2025January 5, 2012 by Menzie Chinn

In my previous post, I cited Jeff Frieden’s and my proposal for a conditional inflation target. Yet, according to several observers, we are either on the brink of crowding out due to elevated government deficits [0], or high to hyperinflation, due to monetary base expansion [1]. As has been noted, none of these outcomes have … Read more

Monti and the ‘Mother of All Reforms’

February 5, 2025January 5, 2012 by Paolo Manasse

Whether Mario Monti will be remembered as Italy’s savior (from default) or as just another well-meaning economics professor, will largely depend on the government’s “Phase2″. In “Phase 1″, the government’s objective was adopting “structural” reforms that would durably curb the budget deficit. The pension reform, the property tax and the anti-tax evasion measures were the … Read more

THE JOB GUARANTEE: Finally Moving Beyond Theory to Implementation

February 11, 2025January 4, 2012 by L. Randall Wray

Since the early 1990s a bunch of us have been advocating for a Job Guarantee or Employer of Last Resort program. My previous two blogs have provided some of the theoretical details.In addition, in recent days there have been simultaneous discussions going on around the blogosphere. What is amazing to me is that the discussion … Read more