How well has the Federal Reserve performed for America? Mainstream pundits, of course, say that Bernanke has saved the world . . . . but they said the same thing about Greenspan. So let’s look at the actual historical record to determine how well the…
Posts Tagged ‘Reserve’
United Nations: New Global Reserve Currency Needed As Dollar Has Become a “Confidence Game” for Speculation
September 8th, 2009 |
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The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a report today calling for the creation of a new global reserve currency.The UN also called the dollar-based system a “confidence game” of financial speculation.The UN is calling for a new gl…
Zero Hedge Claims that the Federal Reserve ITSELF Traded Over a Trillion Dollars Worth of Derivatives in March Alone
August 24th, 2009 |
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You know Zero Hedge, the popular website which has broken major stories like Goldman’s dominance of high-frequency trading.Some say that Zero Hedge occasionally breaks stories before adequately fact-checking them. I don’t know whether that is true or…
Economists Have Acted Like Team Doctors for the Financial Giants
July 29th, 2009 |
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The New York Federal has just published a new report entitled “The Shadow Banking System: Implications for Financial Regulation”. One of the main conclusions of the report is that leverage undermines financial instability: Securitization was intended …
Bernanke’s Own Finances Dipped In 2008
July 29th, 2009 |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was among the many Americans whose finances took a sharp hit in 2008, according to disclosure forms released by the central bank on Tuesday.
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Indian interest rates unchanged
July 28th, 2009 |
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept interest rates at record lows in a continuing effort to return the economy to growth.
The repo rate – at which the central bank injects short-term money into the banking system – was held at 4.75%.
The cash reserve ratio – the percentage of banks’ deposits they must keep in cash – was also held at 5%.
The central bank said it would maintain an "accommodative monetary stance" until there were signs of a recovery.
It said its forecast for economic growth in the current financial year was unchanged at 6%.
"The RBI is still working in conjunction with the fiscal policy, which is trying to nurture growth," said Sachchidanand Shukla, economist at Enam Securities in Mumbai.
He added that the central bank’s focus would shift to battling inflation by the beginning of 2010. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Reserve Bank of India leaves key rates steady
July 28th, 2009 |
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday kept the key rates unchanged and said that there are progressive signs of recovery with positive industrial production and optimistic business confidence.
The RBI left its lending rate steady at 4.75 per cent, its lowest in nine years, and its reverse repo rate, at which it absorbs surplus [...]
Mongolian wilds inspire UN’s Ban
July 27th, 2009 |
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By Michael Kohn
BBC News, Ulan Bator
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been in the wilds of Mongolia, travelling over rough roads to meet a nomad family.
He has attended a traditional sports festival and visited a nature reserve.
Mr Ban’s primary reason for visiting the north Asian country is to learn how climate change affects the far-flung corners of the globe.
Desertification and deforestation are major threats to Mongolia’s nomads, despite recent flooding in the capital.
Child jockeys serenaded their horses before a 10km (six-mile) horse race across the vast plains of central Mongolia.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon watched with delight as the horses galloped across the plains.
Traditional Mongolian wrestling followed and then Mr Ban tried his hand at archery, launching an arrow into the blue sky.
He finished off the day spotting wild horses at a nature reserve before bunking down in a traditional felt ger, the portable home of the nomads.
But the countryside tour was not all fun and games.
The visit is Mr Ban’s latest effort in his goal to learn about how climate change affects remote countries like Mongolia.
Mr Ban discussed desertification and deforestation with local herders who breed sheep, cows and horses on diminishing pastures.
Democracy and privatisation were enshrined in a new constitution, but the collapse of the economy after the withdrawal of Soviet support triggered widespread poverty and unemployment in the sparsely-populated, landlocked country.
Mr Ban has previously visited environmental hotspots such as the melting icecaps of the Antarctic and the rainforests of Brazil, hoping to keep the spotlight focused on global warming.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Panda cub born from frozen sperm
July 24th, 2009 |
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Here today, gone by 2010
July 24th, 2009 |
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Russia reserve fund is emptying fast
Russia’s reserve fund, built up over several years thanks to high oil prices, will shrink to US$52bn in the third quarter of this year from a peak of US$137bn in March, and is expected to be empty by the end of 2010 as transfers are required to plug the yawning gap between government revenue and spending. Assuming that by 2011 the global economy is growing robustly once more, the reserve fund will have done its job. If not, Russia’s government, which has hiked spending sharply in recent years, is likely to return to the international debt markets—and this could change the political realities in which the country’s rulers operate.
Russia’s government will transfer Rb1.36trn (US$43.7bn) from its reserve fund to the state budget during the third quarter of this year, the government announced on July 22nd after Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, had signed a decree to approve the measure. As a result, the reserve fund will have just Rb1.6trn by the start of October, compared with a peak balance of nearly Rb4.9trn in March. …
Here today, gone by 2010
July 24th, 2009 |
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Russia reserve fund is emptying fast
Russia’s reserve fund, built up over several years thanks to high oil prices, will shrink to US$52bn in the third quarter of this year from a peak of US$137bn in March, and is expected to be empty by the end of 2010 as transfers are required to plug the yawning gap between government revenue and spending. Assuming that by 2011 the global economy is growing robustly once more, the reserve fund will have done its job. If not, Russia’s government, which has hiked spending sharply in recent years, is likely to return to the international debt markets—and this could change the political realities in which the country’s rulers operate.
Russia’s government will transfer Rb1.36trn (US$43.7bn) from its reserve fund to the state budget during the third quarter of this year, the government announced on July 22nd after Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, had signed a decree to approve the measure. As a result, the reserve fund will have just Rb1.6trn by the start of October, compared with a peak balance of nearly Rb4.9trn in March. …
Sheldon Filger: Bernanke to Congress: I Don’t Know to Whom We Gave Half a Trillion Dollars
July 23rd, 2009 |
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The Fed and its chairman have made many errors in judgment, not the least their overly-optimistic pronouncements when the first tremors from the sub-prime meltdown arose.
US economy improving – Bernanke
July 21st, 2009 |
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Bernanke said the Federal Reserve had an array of weapons at its disposal to withdraw its unprecedented monetary stimulus when the time was right
The state of the US economy appears to be improving and the Federal Reserve is reviewing ways to withdraw its massive monetary policy stimulus when the time is right, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said today.
Appearing before the House financial services committee for his report on monetary policy, Bernanke said: “The pace of decline appears to have slowed significantly, and final demand and production have shown tentative signs of stabilization.”
However, he cautioned that unemployment was likely to remain high into 2011, and said that this could damage already fragile consumer confidence and potentially undermine what is expected to be a very gradual recovery.
Bernanke said the Federal Reserve had an array of weapons at its disposal to withdraw its unprecedented monetary stimulus when the time was right, even if its balance sheet remained large for a time.
“We also believe that it is important to assure the public and the markets that the extraordinary policy measures we have taken in response to the financial crisis and the recession can be withdrawn in a smooth and timely manner as needed, thereby avoiding the risk that policy stimulus could lead to a future rise in inflation,” he said.
John Higgins, senior market economist at consultants Capital Economics, said: “The Fed is confident that it has ‘the necessary tools to withdraw policy accommodation, when that becomes appropriate, in a smooth and timely manner’ and so ‘prevent the emergence of an inflation problem further down the road’. Presumably there is nothing that Bernanke could ever say to convince the more naive monetarists, gold bugs and conspiracy theorists that a surge in inflation is inevitable.
“But while we are not blind to the risk that the Fed could misjudge the timing (in either direction), in principle at least the exit strategy should be much more straightforward and less disruptive than many assume.”
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Bernanke Fends Off Calls To Tame The Fed
July 21st, 2009 |
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke helped steer the economy away from what he calls “Depression 2.0.” Now he’s trying to defend the Fed itself.
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Leading Journalist Confirms that Government Could Take Over the Power of Money-Creation for the Public Good
July 20th, 2009 |
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William Greider is a former Washington Post and Rolling Stone editor, and now writes for the Nation. Greider has written numerous books and articles on the economy over the course of many decades, including the leading book on the Federal Reserve, Secr…
The Fed’s “Independence” Argument is False
July 10th, 2009 |
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The Fed’s main argument against an audit by Congress is that it would interfere with the Fed’s “independence”.For example, in his Congressional testimony yesterday – entitled “Federal Reserve independence” – the vice chair of the Fed used the “i” word …