On March 17, a House subcommittee held a hearing on the relationship between monetary policy and rising prices. The only witnesses were three advocates of the gold standard.
In a March 6 commentary, University of California, San Diego, economist James Hamilton examined the velocity of bank reserves, which has fallen sharply due to the availability of excess reserves in the banking system.
On March 1, the Federal Reserve Board issued its semi-annual report to Congress on monetary policy.
In a March 1 blog post, Stanford economist John Taylor took issue with Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke’s description of the “Taylor rule” for monetary policy during congressional testimony that day.
On March 1, PIMCO’s Bill Gross warned that the end of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve in June could lead to a very rapid rise in short-term interest rates.
On February 25, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a study on monetary policy when interest rates are close to zero.
On February 25, the Congressional Research Service published a report on the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate – price stability and low unemployment – and whether a single mandate would be better.
In a February 24 commentary, Harvard economist Martin Feldstein said that the recent rise in the stock market has been caused by the Fed’s policy of quantitative easing, and that rising stock market wealth has led to a decline in saving and a rise in consumption by consumers, which in turn has propelled GDP growth.
A February 23 report from PIMCO warns that signs of inflation are beginning to appear.
On February 22, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a study on the relationship between bank reserves and bank lending.
On February 21, Boston College economist Peter Ireland posted a working paper examining the Federal Reserve’s policy of paying interest on bank reserves.
I last posted items on this topic on February 21.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).
