In theory, it goes like this: QE or any sort of large-scale asset purchase (LSAP) undertaken by a central bank is needed during times of trouble in order to reduce interest rates in general. Buying bonds seems like it would lower yields, and lower yields mean more accommodative credit, therefore a boost to the real economy.So simple, straightforward, and intuitive, [...]
58.3 Izabella Kaminska on Green Bitcoin, Privacy & NFTs ———Part 3 Summary——— Izabella Kaminska, editor of Alphaville - the Financial Times blog, talks: bitcoin free-market green energy, non-fungible tokens, cryptocurrency's role in the monetary order, intraday interbank liquidity, central bank command-economy green agendas and more! ———Episode 58 Intro——— Welcome to Making Sense. Jeff Snider and I are joined by a [...]
There is a bit of a benefit from all this SLR “cliff” business, though tangential in nature. It is another test of the “too many” Treasury hypothesis, the idea that a lot of the problems in funding markets like repo had been caused by the government’s fiscal profligacy (especially following December 2017’s TCJA “tax reform”). With foreigners selling UST’s, and [...]
Is it a building case of/for selling the news? Another substantial down day in the oil market brings the total slide to just more than 13% (since March 5). Hardly anything earth-shaking on its own, not with the WTI front month futures contract gaining an impressive 85% since the end of October. During those four and a half months, the [...]
58.2 Izabella Kaminska on UBI, MMT, ESG and -isms———Part 2 Summary———Izabella Kaminska, editor of Alphaville - the Financial Times blog, talks political-economy: work furlough as proto Universal Basic Income, a labor force under Modern Monetary Theory, naïve accedence of Environmental-Social Governance, socialism, communism, corporate-capitalism and more! ———Episode 58 Intro——— Welcome to Making Sense. Jeff Snider and I are joined by [...]
It was very cold across much of the United States in February in parts of it that usually don’t freeze up – literally and figuratively. While electricity in Texas garnered most of the attention, the weather was just as bad in many other states across the typically mild wintering South. Undoubtedly, last month was an exception to the seasons’ status [...]
58.1 Izabella Kaminska on Media, Criticism and Trust———Part 1 Summary——— Izabella Kaminska, editor of Alphaville - the Financial Times blog, talks: financial journalism, the necessity of skepticism, public distrust of media, press reticence to cover underclass concerns, reportage to clarify versus to convince, technology's impact on news, and more! ———Episode 58 Intro——— Welcome to Making Sense. Jeff Snider and I [...]
The SLR exemption is ending! The SLR exemption is ending! Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? There has been rampant speculation the last few weeks about the fate of the exemption the Fed provided banks a year ago with regard to the Supplemental Leverage Ratio that allowed them to ignore Treasuries and reserves. The banks themselves warned that [...]
Quick questions: who said the following, and when did this person say this? Our own country has tried one economic theory after another. The present Administration asked for, and received, extraordinary powers upon the assurance that these were to be temporary. Most of its proposals did not follow familiar paths to recovery. We knew they were being undertaken hastily and [...]
The Federal Reserve has allowed itself an image of a marshmallow when it comes to the banking system it is (one-third) charged with regulating. First and foremost, along with the two other (redundant) triplets, the OCC and FDIC, the US central bank is not a central bank at all; it is near exclusively a domestic bank regulator. And while “macroprudential” [...]
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