Subprime crisis

Ultra-low interest rates

by

Read my latest Oxford University Press blog post on ultra-low rates.  The post is based on a presentation I will make at the SUERF/OeNB/BWG Conference on  “Asset-liability management with ultra-low interest rates,” at the Austrian National Bank in Vienna on March 11, 2015.

Bernanke’s legacy

by

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

Libor needs to be scrapped—not reformed

by

Last Friday, a top British top financial regulator issued a report suggesting numerous reforms to the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor).  Libor, a benchmark interest rate that affects more than $300 trillion in financial transactions, is constructed from the cost of funds estimates submitted by a handful of large banks.  This summer, e-mails surfaced showing … Read more

The biggest threat to capitalism

by

Most of us spend more time thinking about the latest London Olympics results than the scandal surrounding the London InterBank Offered Rate, or Libor. That is a big mistake. We should be paying more attention to the Libor scandal.  And we should be terrified. The public has been so fatigued by the flood of awful … Read more

Time to go negative!

by

Since the outbreak of the subprime meltdown, the Federal Reserve has shown itself ready, willing, and able to adopt unconventional monetary policies in order to reverse the downturn ushered in by the financial crisis. Recent Fed innovations have included quantitative easing in order to inject more money into the economy, intervention in the debt market … Read more