Tag Archives: Federal Reserve

The New York Times reports: The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and near zero on Wednesday as the central bank projected a slow economic recovery from the pandemic-induced recession. In their first economic projections this year, Fed officials indicated that they expected the unemployment rate to end 2020 at 9.3 percent and remain elevated for years, coming in at …

CNN reports: How bad is the coronavirus economy? The worst ever, says Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. “We are going to see economic data for the second quarter that is worse than any data we have seen for the economy,” Powell said. “There are direct consequences of the disease and measures we are taking to protect ourselves from it.” The recovery …

Bloomberg News reports: U.S. stocks started the week down as investors saw little progress on a congressional spending package to blunt the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Measures of corporate credit risk eased after the Federal Reserve announced a massive second wave of initiatives to support a shuttered American economy. The S&P 500 closed lower, despite a late-session surge, after …

The New York Times reports: The Federal Reserve said it would buy as much government-backed debt as it needs to keep financial markets functioning, and unrolled a series of programs meant to shore up both large and small businesses — a whatever-it-takes effort to cushion the economic blow of the pandemic. “Aggressive efforts must be taken across the public and …

NBC News reports: The Federal Reserve announced an emergency rate cut on Tuesday in response to the viral outbreak, trimming the nation’s benchmark borrowing rate by 0.5 percentage points. The move comes after finance ministers from the G-7 convened via teleconference with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to determine an economic strategy to defend against …

CNN reports: Paul A. Volcker, who helped shape American economic policy for more than six decades, most notably by leading the Federal Reserve’s brute-force campaign to subdue inflation in the late 1970s and early ’80s, died on Sunday in New York. He was 92. Mr. Volcker, a towering, taciturn and somewhat rumpled figure, arrived in Washington as America’s postwar economic …

CNBC reports: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday took a shot at members of the Federal Reserve board as part of the “deep state.” “I don’t want to get into a lot of Fed bashing,” Kudlow told CNBC in an interview from the White House lawn. “They do the best they can. Their models are highly flawed. The …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday put renewed pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, arguing the strength of the U.S. dollar is hurting American manufacturers. In a series of tweets, Trump accused the Fed of hindering U.S. exports by keeping interest rates relatively high compared to other economic powers. He suggested the central bank should weaken …

From the ethics watchdog group CREW: The recent Federal Reserve interest rate cut has clear political benefits for President Trump, but it appears the cut will be doubly beneficial to him, as he also now stands to save millions in loan payments in coming years as a result of the rate cut. Trump reported five mortgages and loans on his …

The International Monetary Fund reports: A curious thing recently happened in US currency: in 2017 the $100 bill overtook the ubiquitous $1 bill in circulation volume, for the first time in history. In other words, the most valuable US banknote became the most widely circulated. (The $20 bill is in third place.) According to the Federal Reserve, there are more …

Mediaite reports: Stephen Moore phoned into Fox Business on Thursday to give Neil Cavuto the first word about his decision to withdraw from consideration for the Federal Reserve Board. When asked about his decision, Moore blamed the “sleaze campaign” from critics and the media. He defended his past writings, saying “they were meant to be jokes,” but acknowledged that many …

The New York Times reports: President Trump said he would not nominate Stephen Moore for a seat on the Federal Reserve board after several Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the conservative economist’s previous comments denigrating women. Mr. Moore, who continued to insist as recently as Thursday that he retained Mr. Trump’s support, appeared unlikely to win Senate confirmation after Republican …

A related story today from Media Matters: Herman Cain, President Donald Trump’s pick for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, frequently acted as a gold company spokesperson on his radio program. He warned listeners in advertisements that they need to put some of their assets in gold because there’s a recession coming and “even central banks are buying gold …

The Daily Beast reports: A woman who has accused Herman Cain of having a long-term consensual affair threatened on Thursday to describe “certain parts” of his body to the Senate Banking Committee “to corroborate her testimony” if he doesn’t withdraw his name from consideration for the Federal Reserve Board. Ginger White first claimed she had a 13-year affair with Cain …

CNBC reports: Herman Cain will not drop out of consideration for the Federal Reserve Board even though he does not appear to have enough votes to get confirmed in the Senate, he told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and Kansas City Fed Board president said he is “very committed” to the process, according to …

ABC News reports: Herman Cain is expected to withdraw his name from consideration for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, amid growing pressure from Republican senators on the White House to remove him from consideration, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump announced last week his intention to nominate Cain, a political ally and former 2012 …

The Kansas City Star reports: Herman Cain, whose prospects for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors have grown shaky before President Donald Trump even nominates him, likely gave his detractors in the U.S. Senate more reason to oppose his confirmation with comments at a University of Kansas lecture Wednesday night. He described the Senate Banking Committee, which …

Media Matters reports: Herman Cain, President Donald Trump’s pick for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, took money to promote the newsletter of an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. Cain also sent sponsored emails suggesting that the government is forcing citizens to take “7 deadly drugs” and that former first lady Nancy Reagan’s “desperate fight to cure Alzheimer’s disease” may be …

Politico reports: Herman Cain is in deep trouble. And he hasn’t even been formally nominated to the Federal Reserve yet. Senate Republicans are warning the White House that the 2012 presidential candidate will face one of the most difficult confirmation fights of Donald Trump’s presidency and are making a behind-the-scenes play to get the president to back off, two GOP …

Axios reports: President Trump has told confidants he wants Herman Cain on the Federal Reserve board, but will wait until his background check is completed before making the formal announcement, according to two senior administration officials familiar with the decision. It’s likely confirmation that Trump is ready to move ahead with the former presidential candidate, whose possible nomination was reported …