“Labor market conditions are affected by factors outside a central bank’s control,” admitted Richmond Fed President Lacker as the employment report bounced around the world. Yet for years, the Fed has proclaimed that the heroic motivation for its selfless money-printing mania was the deep desire to improve the unemployment fiasco for average Americans.
Federal Reserve
Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
Bubbles are a funny thing. Participants don’t see them. Outsiders shake their heads, then get sucked in themselves. Central banks create them but deny their existence. Money piles in on top of money. Risks no longer exist. Result: mayhem, capital destruction, devastation of the industry…. and a new beginning for the lucky ones. Take natural gas.
“During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
There could not possibly be any clouds on the horizon with the Dow and the S&P 500 setting all-time highs, while the German DAX is marching relentlessly towards 8,000 and the Japanese Nikkei is soaring. But just then, a deeply connected representative of the world’s real economy spoils the rosy scenario.
The Fed’s Fear Scale: Holdings of Cold Hard Cash At A Record
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Fed’s Fear Scale: Holdings of Cold Hard Cash At A Record
David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”
I’ve been a fan of David Stockman ever since he got in trouble for speaking the truth as Budget Director under President Reagan. But his new book, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America—what an awesome romp through the economic, financial, and monetary shenanigans of our times!
Wall-Street Craziness Is Back
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Wall-Street Craziness Is Back
The craziness on Wall Street, the reckless for-the-moment-only behavior that led to the Financial Crisis, is back. This time it’s Citigroup that is once again concocting “synthetic” securities, like those that had wreaked havoc five years ago. And once again, it’s using them to shuffle off risks through the filters of Wall Street to people who might never know.
Housing Bubble 2 Forms: But This Time It’s Different
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Housing Bubble 2 Forms: But This Time It’s Different
We have seen it for several years now: foreclosure sales—there were 5 million since the peak of the housing bubble—have become the hunting grounds for investors with two goals: hanging on to these homes until the Fed’s flood of money drives up their value; and defraying the expenses of ownership by renting them out. And…
The Fed’s Token Voice Of Reason: Megabanks Undermine Americans’ Faith In Democracy
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Fed’s Token Voice Of Reason: Megabanks Undermine Americans’ Faith In Democracy
At the CPAC, as Republicans struggled with the future, some speakers drew crowds of over 1,000 people. But Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher was shuffled off to “an out-of-the-way ballroom” with barely two dozen people showing up; yet he’d talk about “the injustice of operating our economy under the thumb” of too-big-to-fail banks.
Dow Hits New High, 59% of Americans Feel A Recession
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Dow Hits New High, 59% of Americans Feel A Recession
By the irony of timing, the Dow hit an all-time high as markets opened. Exuberance wafted through the air. Hype was flowing thickly. Happy days were back. New highs beget new highs. And everyone knew why: the Fed’s money-printing and asset-purchase operations. By the irony of timing… because 30 minutes later, kitchen-table reality polluted the scene.
The Great Backpedal: The World Has NOT Come To An End
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Great Backpedal: The World Has NOT Come To An End
Now that the “sequester” is in effect, horrid budget cuts would hit the US. 750,000 people would lose their jobs, planes would stop flying, children would go hungry, the Navy would no longer be able to operate its ships, according to the media. Fear-mongering that the White House drove to shameless heights. But suddenly, furious backpedalling has commenced.