Fed Hikes by 25 Basis Points, to 5.25% Top of Range. Says, “Extent to which Additional Policy Firming May be Appropriate,” instead of “Pause.” QT Continues by Wolf Richter • May 3, 2023 • 183 Comments The rate is now where it last was during the 14-month-long pause from June 2006 to August 2007.
Fed’s Balance Sheet Plunges $171 Billion in Five Weeks since Peak Bank Bailout as QT Continues and Liquidity Support Cools by Wolf Richter • Apr 27, 2023 • 156 Comments First Republic, is this you?
But What If We Don’t Get a Recession in 2023? That Would Be a Bummer for Wall Street by Wolf Richter • Apr 19, 2023 • 229 Comments Just a slower-growth muddle-through economy that adjusts to higher rates and sticky inflation.
What Would Happen if the Fed Caves to 4%-5% Core PCE Inflation, Gives up on 2%, as some Folks are Clamoring For? by Wolf Richter • Apr 16, 2023 • 349 Comments The economy would muddle through, but in the markets, all heck would break loose. Here’s why.
Fed’s Balance Sheet Plunges by $101 Billion in Two Weeks, as QT Continues and Bank Liquidity Support Begins to Unwind by Wolf Richter • Apr 6, 2023 • 114 Comments The dream of a return to QE was fun while it lasted.
Status of US Dollar as Global Reserve Currency and Exchange Rates: Slow Long-Term Decline on Track by Wolf Richter • Apr 2, 2023 • 188 Comments But the Chinese Renminbi didn’t make any progress at all last year.
Free Money Turned Brains to Mush, Now Some Banks Fail by Wolf Richter • Mar 25, 2023 • 177 Comments The Fed’s rate hikes and QT didn’t break anything except consensual hallucination.
The Fed Should Be Fired as Bank Regulator. Powell’s Discussion of Silicon Valley Bank & Regulatory Failure Shows Why by Wolf Richter • Mar 24, 2023 • 191 Comments The Fed is structurally too conflicted to regulate banks. The FDIC is not, but it needs tiger teeth to bite CEOs’ heads off.
Update on the Fed’s Liquidity Support for Banks by Wolf Richter • Mar 23, 2023 • 127 Comments Was it the Swiss National Bank that Borrowed $60 Billion via “Foreign Official” Repos for the Credit Suisse takeunder?
Powell Explains the Fed’s New Regime: Rate Hikes & QT to Fight Inflation while Offering Liquidity to Banks to Keep them from Toppling by Wolf Richter • Mar 22, 2023 • 244 Comments An enormously important new regime gets engraved into central-bank handbooks. The ECB and Bank of England are also on board.