QE Magic, Used Cars, and Omicron: Tapering While Preserving Optionality
The policy mistake worth worrying about isn’t the speed of taper per se; it's the signal that taper sends about the timing of liftoff in interest rate policy.
Federal Reserve
202 postsOffsetting Persistent Inflationary Pressures With Disinflationary Healthcare Policy
Healthcare policy interventions could provide downward pressure on core PCE both in 2022 and in the years ahead. Given the salience of inflation, disinflationary healthcare policies should be a key priority for Congress and the Biden Administration alike.
Inflation Expectations: Three Stories in Search of Evidence
Despite widespread use by commentators and policymakers, the models commonly used to argue for the importance of "inflation expectations" are difficult to confirm empirically, and risk a hawkish policy bias.
Expecting Inflation: The Case of the 1950s
Whenever inflation becomes a part of political or economic discourse, policymakers and commentators instinctively reach for narratives and models drawn from the experience of the 1970s inflation. However, these models offer little explanation for even adjacent experiences of inflation.
Secretary Mnuchin Shifting Funds From Its $500B ESF Appropriation Into The Treasury’s General Fund Likely Violates The CARES Act
Given Mnuchin’s stated intent to act in violation of the CARES Act, Chair Powell should reconsider his decision to transfer the funds back to Treasury, or at least clarify that they are for the sole purpose of being returned to the Exchange Stabilization Fund.
