Working Life

You may have been checking out all the ruckus in the stock market just after the Fed decided to end its bond-buying program to prop up the economy. The strategy of the Fed was simple: try to keep things from really collapsing. But, the mindset before and after this program is really telling about what they don’t get.

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That elites and the transcribers of press releases (formerly known as “journalists”) don’t understand what is happening to most working people is never more apparent when discussing the Federal Reserve Board, and the basic abandonment of the idea of full employment.

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   I mean, this is pretty funny–except it’s pathetic, bizarre and, ultimately, gives all of us a great window on the "they haven’t learned anything" culture on Wall Street and the business world in general. Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan (and the Ten of Hearts in the 52 deck-of cards Audacity of Greed), is […]

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   If you agree with this, from a Financial Times columnist, we are in a bad place: The Fed is divided on how far the risk of higher inflation argues for caution in maintaining, let alone increasing, the monetary stimulus provided by very low short-term interest rates and quantitative easing. Markets had come to assume […]

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Putting aside the larger argument for the moment about whether we–the taxpayers–should have stepped into to save failing institutions, it is pretty clear now that what we also did was just give a nice new revenue stream for banks that did not need the money but figured, heck, why not get our taste from the […]

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   This is the news today: U.S. consumer spending was flat in June as incomes stopped growing and prices remained subdued, pointing to a weaker economy.    But, that should not be a surprise. Which makes this very curious:    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said rising wages would probably spur household spending in […]

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   Yesterday, the president announced that it was time for a new deal with banks: The tougher approach to financial regulation that President Obama outlined on Thursday reflected a changed political climate, the rebound in big banks’ fortunes after their taxpayer bailout and a shift in power within the administration away from those who had […]

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   Some momentum on opening up the Fed to more scrutiny, via The Wall Street Journal: Rep. Ron Paul said he has a commitment from the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, to advance the Texas Republican’s legislation opening the Federal Reserve to broader federal audits. In an interview Friday, Mr. Paul […]

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People are missing the point about the reappointment of Ben Bernanke to head the Federal Reserve Board. Appoint him or not, choose a Republican or a Democrat or not–until we decide to change the way we see the role of the Federal Reserve Board, and how the economy is structured, the power over our lives […]

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   As is pretty common when it comes to the traditional media and the political insiders talking about the Federal Reserve Board, there is way too much deference given the Fed. Today, The New York Times has a story raising the question about whether Ben Bernanke should be reappointed as the Fed chair: In Washington […]

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