Banking's Past, Present, and Future
Barack Obama recently indicated that he is unlikely to reappoint Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve when his term expires next January. Understandably, the media is focused on who might succeed Bernanke to lead the US central bank. After all, the chairman of the Federal Reserve is often described as the second most … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, the Economist magazine ran an unusual “help wanted” ad. The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, will retire in June and the British government is looking for a replacement. On the one hand, it might seem like a great job. The Governor receives a salary of £300,000, … Read more
Writing nearly 40 years ago, historian Ernest R. May warned of the dangers of misusing history for policy purposes. May was primarily concerned that policy makers drew the wrong lessons from the past. In their opinion piece in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School and an advisor to Mitt Romney, … Read more
Writing in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, John Taylor takes the Federal Reserve to task for its “interventionist” behavior. Taylor’s main complaint with the Fed’s conduct of monetary policy is that it is unstable and unpredictable (verging on the whimsical!). He argues that this stems in part from the Fed’s mandate to pursue low unemployment in … Read more
The Financial Times reported this week on a study by the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of the UK that argues that “financial amnesia” among institutional investors–particularly a failure to heed the lessons of past bubbles–has contributed to the global financial crisis. The answer, according to the Society’s report, is that the study of financial history … Read more
Writing in Friday’s Wall Street Journal, Stanford professor Edward Lazear argues that the real danger to the American worker is too much government–in other words: too many taxes and too much spending. Prof. Lazear writes: During the debt-ceiling debate, President Obama characterized his push for higher taxes and less aggressive budget cuts as being helpful … Read more
I am devastated. Writing in the Financial Times today, Alan Greenspan, argues that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will have–indeed is already having–unintended consequences. He cites five specific cases. 1) Making credit ratings agencies legally liable for their opinions about risk made them unwilling to give Ford Motor Credit a rating … Read more