regulation

Clean air….hot air

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Read my latest Oxford University Press blog post on the GOP presidential candidates and environmental regulation.

Alan Meltzer’s straw “Keynesian”

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Remember when “liberal” became the insult of choice among Republicans? Apparently, “Keynesian” has now taken on that status for Republican economists.  Never mind that Keynesian is ill-defined (old Keynesian?  new Keynesian?  the Keynesian part of the neoclassical synthesis?)–making Keynesian a dirty word and applying it to those with whom you disagree has become the tactic … Read more

Don’t tread on me…tread on them!

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Goldman Sachs second-in-command Gary Cohn warned those assembled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the drive to impose more regulation on banks could cause the next crisis by pushing risky activities towards hedge funds and other lightly supervised entities. According to the Financial Times, Cohn said: “In the next few years, the … Read more

Don’t change the Fed’s mandate

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Writing in the Financial Times, Stephen Roach concludes that it is “[t]ime to revamp the Fed’s flawed mandate.” Roach argues that maintaining financial stability should be added to the Fed’s current dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability.  Such a change would be ineffective at best, destructive at worst. It would be ineffective because … Read more

Glad I don’t work for a ratings agency…..

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The Financial Times reports today that Portuguese banks have lashed out at Fitch Ratings after the rating agency repeatedly downgraded the banks over their funding and liquidity risks. According to the report: Banco Espírito Santo said it was terminating its contract with Fitch because there was “no valid justification” for downgrading its credit rating by … Read more