Items tagged with Federal Reserve:
News & Updates:
-
Trump administration considers extensive foreign auto tariffs; Trump administration pulls back on family detention policy; Trump officials seek to remake Medicaid; Federal Reserve dramatically downgrades rate path. -
Panel assembled by White House to conduct research on the impacts of climate change on national security included long time denier William Happer; Congress is anticipated to vote on a resolution that expresses the House’s disapproval of Trump’s national emergency declaration; Jobless claims fall slightly; Federal Reserve unlikely to raise interest rates. -
Throughout its history, the U.S. Federal Reserve has engaged in international diplomacy, outside the bounds of (and sometimes in conflict with) the priorities of the White House and U.S. State Department. In directing monetary policy, the Fed’s primary concern is to benefit the U.S. economy. In the process, the Fed at times acts in concert with foreign central banks, as was the case in setting new bank regulations after the 2008 financial crisis. At other times, the Fed acts in ways that other countries view as detrimental to their economic interests. Either way, the Fed operates with little public accountability, and can wind up complicating the work of U.S. diplomats. This brief addresses the questions of whether and how greater oversight of the Fed’s international activities should be pursued. The brief recommends not an overhaul of the Fed’s structure or the elimination of its role in international affairs, but instead calls for greater disclosure of its international activities. The authors suggest that the Fed should provide testimony to Congress twice per year on its foreign policies, just as it does for monetary and regulatory policy. This kind of disclosure permits broader discussion of the Fed’s activities without eliminating the benefits of its institutional independence for monetary policy.
-
A bi-partisan committee has been tasked with striking a deal for Department of Homeland Security funding; Congress is putting pressure on pharmaceutical industry to face drug price hearings; New EPA regulations provide greater latitude to natural gas producers; Federal Reserve votes to keep rates constant.
-
In a discussion on the board practices of the Federal Reserve, Wharton Professor Peter Conti-Brown provides a historical account of the rotational voting system implemented by the Federal bank.
