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Finding a Prescription for the U.S.'s Money Trap
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David Wessel says the U.S. is in a liquidity trap. He says the 500 point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Averages was a less significant event than the decision by the Bank of New York Mellon to charge clients for keeping large amounts of cash. In a liquidity trap investors are indifferent between keeping their money in cash or in investments providing a return, because interest rates are so low. Today the S&P 500 have in total an estimated $963 billion in cash. The solutions for gettting out of a liquidity trap include government stimulus spending, devaluing the currrency, and generating inflation that could make it easier to reduce government debt. The stimulus approach was adopted in the first 2 years of the Obama administration and there are now increasing pressures to reduce the U.S. deficit. Because of the role of the U.S. dollar as an international currrency and large sovereign holdings of U.S. currency, an outright devaluation of the dollar has not been considered an option. At the same time the weakening of the U.S. currency has helped exports and is encouraged by the Fed and the U.S. government. In a sense all three options are being tried in different degrees and ways. The stimulus was the early response till the deficit concerns began to increase and require attention, the efforts to lower the value of the dollar to increase exports is underway, and the rounds of quantitative easing by the Fed were intended to produce inflation (and avert deflation). All with limited success.
Comparisons of the U.S. Economy with Japan, considering the Federal Reserve's easy money policy and little lending by banks.
10/15/2009
Is the US economy already in a liquidity trap with exploding monetary growth and little consumer lending asks Christopher Wood. Views of other experts on the subject.
Grouped Articles
Target Is 'Flexible,' Says Japan Bank Chief
Wall Street Journal 04/12/2013
Japan Is a Model Not a Cautionary Tale
New York Times 06/09/2013
Sluggish Economic Recovery Proves Resilient
Wall Street Journal 04/21/2014
Is the U.S. Economy Turning Japanese?
Wall Street Journal 10/27/2009
Economist 10/15/2009
Wall Street Journal 12/08/2009
A delicate balancing act for the Federal Reserve to withdraw support that puts a dark cloud over the economy..
10/01/2009
Incrementally withdrawing support where and when possible will be a tough act for the Fed, after the Fed has committed $1 trillion so far as support to debt securtization markets that breathe life into the USA economy. Shiller says these markets are dead, we are stuck, and no one knows what will happen if they are hobbled for corporate real estate, mortgages, auto loans.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 08/01/2013
Fed Must Consider the World and All U.S. Employment
Wall Street Journal 04/09/2015
How the Fed Can Avoid the Next Bubble
Wall Street Journal 10/06/2009
Paralysis in the Debt Markets Is Deepening the Credit Drought
New York Times 10/07/2009
New Order: No Money, No Problem
Wall Street Journal 10/07/2009
Fed Frets About Commercial Real Estate
Wall Street Journal 10/07/2009
Criticism of Bernanke's role at the Federal Reserve
01/02/2009
The difficult renomination and the subsequent 70-30 vote with 30 Senators opposed including Boxer, Feingold, Sanders and others. This follows Ron Paul's criticisms in Congress of the Fed's role- see that link group.
Grouped Articles
Martin Feldstein: The Federal Reserve's Policy Dead End
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
Fed Chairmanâs Departure Casts a New Light on the Bush Legacy
New York Times 07/26/2013
Wanted: A Boring Leader for the Fed
New York Times 08/20/2013
Wall Street Journal 09/15/2013
What's Needed in the Next Fed Chief
New York Times 09/15/2013
Philadelphia Federal Reserve bank president Charles Plosser and other expert criticism of Fed chairman Bernanke's monetary policy.
01/04/2010
Plosser says the Fed cannot create jobs or retrain a workforce. In the short term the Fed can act against disinflation, says Plosser, but in the long term Fed policy such as the one being pursued by Bernanke can backfire and lead to more instability in the economy. The Dallas Fed President, Richard Fisher, expresses similiar views.
Grouped Articles
Martin Feldstein: The Federal Reserve's Policy Dead End
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Once Again, the Fed Shies Away From the Exit Door
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
Bravo for Bernanke and the QE Era
Wall Street Journal 01/20/2014
Wall Street Journal 01/18/2011
Wall Street Journal 02/09/2011
Liquidity Trap in Japan and the U.S.
03/17/2008
With the demand curve for money horizontal further increases in the money supply do little to lower interest rates, or as in the current situation where the interest rates in the US are virtually at zero so that further increases in the money supply do little to stimulate the economy. As unemployment is growing and the financial sector weak, Bernanke and the Fed see other ways in which quantitative easing helps a recovery. Here Chritopher Woods compares today's situation in America to that of postbubble Japan. He says America is already in a liquidity trap. And the regulatory forbearance to cleanup the banking mess is similiar to that in postbubble Japan when it took the government years to get up the will and strength to straighten out the mess including breaking up the banks that are too big to fail.
Grouped Articles
Is the U.S. Economy Turning Japanese?
Wall Street Journal 10/27/2009
Economist 10/15/2009
Economist 12/30/2009
Fed’s Bullard Raises Policy Concerns
Wall Street Journal 07/29/2010
Opinions Are Split on Fed Policy Move
Wall Street Journal 11/01/2010
Ben S. Bernanke - What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability
Washington Post 11/04/2010
Allan Meltzer's action plan for the economy includes reversing the excessive monetary easing starting now in October 2009 so that it can be done gradually and not hurt the economy through sudden contraction later on.
10/01/2009
Allan Melzer was co-founder an co-chairman of the Shadow Open Market Committee for over two decades, advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Reagan, and one of the foremost experts on the Federal Reserve System. He calls for the U.S. Federal Reserve to adopt an early exit strategy from loose monetary policies.
Grouped Articles
Once Again, the Fed Shies Away From the Exit Door
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
Preventing the Next Financial Crisis
Wall Street Journal 10/23/2009
Is the U.S. Economy Turning Japanese?
Wall Street Journal 10/27/2009
Economist 10/15/2009
Jobs Now, Deficit Reduction Later
BusinessWeek 10/29/2009
Growing criticism of the Federal Reserve's $600 billion QE II decision in 2010-2011.
08/12/2010
Grouped Articles
How QE 2 Could Drift Off Course
Wall Street Journal 08/12/2010
Bravo for Bernanke and the QE Era
Wall Street Journal 01/20/2014
Wall Street Journal 11/15/2010
More Presidents of Private Colleges Earn Over $1 Million
New York Times 11/15/2010
New York Fed President Defends Bond Buying Plan
New York Times 11/16/2010
Book Review - All The Devils Are Here - By Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera
New York Times 11/19/2010
The U.S. Federal Reserve's exit strategy from a loose monetary policy - 2011-2015
05/18/2011
Grouped Articles
Fed Officials Try to Set the Market at Ease
Wall Street Journal 06/24/2013
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
FX HORIZONS: The Fed’s Risky Codependency with Markets
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
Once Again, the Fed Shies Away From the Exit Door
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
Bernanke Plays Down Link Between Jobless Rate, Fed Moves
Wall Street Journal 07/18/2013
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