Showing archive for: “Monetary Economics: Financial System & Institutions”
A Nobel Prize for Thinking Ahead: Hall and Woodford’s Great Expectations
Suppose you get a $1,000 payment. How much do you spend? Before answering, we’d want to know a few things: Is this a one-time payment? The first of many? Can you borrow? Do you already have savings? This year’s Nobel Prize in economics went to Robert Hall and Michael Woodford for providing the theory to ... A Nobel Prize for Thinking Ahead: Hall and Woodford’s Great Expectations
Cassandra, the Fear of Overregulation, and the CFPB
In the Huffington Post, Marcus Baram warns against those who claim to be concerned about over-regulation on Wall Street and in the consumer protection sphere. Baram writes: Today, Wall Street is again on the attack against a regulatory overhaul that includes more stringent investor and consumer protections. Though the financial landscape is far different and ... Cassandra, the Fear of Overregulation, and the CFPB
Fin Reg and Too Big to Fail: A New Kind of Antitrust?
Simon Johnson argues that the conventional antitrust tools of Sherman Act are outdated and ill-equipped to deal with the power of big banks: Why are these antitrust tools not used against today’s megabanks, which have become so powerful that they can sway legislation and regulation massively in their favor, while also receiving generous taxpayer-financed bailouts ... Fin Reg and Too Big to Fail: A New Kind of Antitrust?
Judge Posner on Financial Reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Judge Posner offers his thoughts on financial reform, mostly negative, at Bloomberg. The thrust of the essay is that the financial regulation produced by the political process has, at best, a poor nexus to the actual causes of the economic crisis, and that what we are left with is primary reorganization and reshuffling to look ... Judge Posner on Financial Reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
What’s the Best Way to Pop a Bubble?
[NOTE: I was drafting this post when Henry Manne posted his open letter to Fama and French. I’m hesitant to post over Henry’s important letter, particularly since TOTM was down yesterday and lots of folks may not have seen the letter. I’m doing so only because this post is a good follow-up to Henry’s points ... What’s the Best Way to Pop a Bubble?
What caused the crisis?
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Alan Greenspan, who was at the helm of the Fed during the relevant time period, tells us (surprise!) it wasn’t the Fed’s fault. Greenspan notes that short-term interest rates, which the Fed controls, are only loosely correlated with long-term interest rates, which are most relevant to real estate investing ... What caused the crisis?
Onions Forever! A Response to Allan Shampine
There is nothing like the provocative post from Allan Shampine to move this debate up a notch. First, I did not say that the debate over interchange fees was Onionesque. I reserved that dubious distinction to the on-the-hand-on-the-other-hand title of the GAO report. Allan is right that the stakes are huge, which is why this ... Onions Forever! A Response to Allan Shampine
