The Federal Reserve did not only vow to maintain a zero interest-rate policy through the end of 2014 (a policy that has its critics, incidentally). They also set an explicit interest rate target for the first time ever, as far as I can tell. The Federal Reserve took the historic step on Wednesday of setting [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee, the policymaking arm of the Federal Reserve, released their policy statement for January, and it suggests additional monetary accommodation in the years ahead. In fact, it forsees maintaining the extraordinarily low federal funds rate of between 0 and 1/4% until at least the end of 2014. This means that the [...]

If financial regulators want to prove that they’re willing to take the necessary steps to protect the public and not the banks, they will soon have a great opportunity. Today, Public Citizen will send a formal petition to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Financial Stability Oversight Council, asking them to “recognize that [...]

Because of process issues, foreclosures slowed to their lowest point in four years, at the still-high rate of 804,000 repossessions for 2011. One out of every 69 homes in America received a foreclosure filing last year. Self-proclaimed experts claim that the worst of the foreclosure process issues have been dealt with, and that repossessions will [...]

The Federal Reserve, Neil Irwin told us earlier in the week, cannot do much for the majority of Americans in a struggling economy. They can only put money in the hands of the well-to-do, in the hopes that they spend more and increase economic growth, which will then trickle down to the masses. I think [...]

The Federal Reserve, upon request from the House and Senate Banking Committees, issued a white paper on housing yesterday, one which actually manages to be honest about the housing crisis and the implications for the greater economy. First off, we get an actual indication that foreclosures are bad and that losses in the system cannot [...]

The Federal Reserve has decided to use the communication channel as a means to boost the economy. Starting with their next meeting, the Fed will detail their specific plans on short-term interest rates, explaining how many years they approximate the rate structure to stay in place. This is an expansion of what the Fed has [...]

The Federal Reserve made no changes after its latest FOMC committee, staying the course of a modest monetary easing program and keeping the federal funds rate at a low level, until mid-2013, according to the statement. In the release, the Fed writes that the economy undertook moderate expansion since their last meeting in November, “notwithstanding [...]

Apparently the Fed didn’t take kindly to that Bloomberg News investigation of their $7.7 trillion largesse to domestic and foreign banks during the financial crisis. The Fed took the rare step of publishing a public document, with a cover letter by Ben Bernanke, objecting to the report. Recent articles “have made repeated claims that the [...]

Today, ADP, a key indicator on unemployment, found that the economy created 206,000 private-sector jobs in November. This is comparable with some of the numbers being put up in the spring, before a multitude of foreign disasters and spending cuts and debt limit debacles had their way with the US economy. This doesn’t show growth [...]

Steve Randy Waldman gives the last word on how the banks were bailed out, contra the popular opinion that TARP “worked.” I appreciate this analogy: Suppose my kid’s meth habit got the best of him. He’s needs to come up with $100K quick or his dealer’s gonna whack him. But he’s a good kid, really! [...]