Category: Central Banks

Friday, July 06, 2012

Central Bank Fireworks / Interest-Rates / Central Banks

By: Michael_Pento

Plunging ISM manufacturing data in the U.S. forebodes a GDP growth rate of just about 1%. And crumbling global PMI manufacturing data indicates worldwide growth is retreating to just 2%. There is a deepening recession in the EU (17) countries, while emerging market economic growth has collapsed. It isn't much of a surprise to learn that central banks in China, Britain, Europe and America have indicated that more money printing is just around the corner.

Friday, July 06, 2012

World Central Banks Take Steps to Stimulate Economic Growth / Interest-Rates / Central Banks

By: Asha_Bangalore

Following the Fed’s extension of Operation Twist on June 20, 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB), People’s Bank of China (PBoC), and the Bank of England (BoE) put in place new monetary policy support today as gloomy economic data have trickled in during recent weeks.

The ECB cut its policy rate to 75bps from 1.00%, a historical low and also slashed the deposit rate (interest the ECB pays to banks for overnight deposits held at the central bank) to zero in order to promote bank lending. The policy rate of 75 bps is the lowest in the short existence of the euro since 1999 (see Chart 1). The main thrust of the ECB is to stimulate economic growth which has suffered a severe setback and raised the unemployment rate in the eurozone to 11.1% in May, a historical high for the eurozone (see Chart 2).

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Institutional Flaw At the Heart of the Federal Reserve / Politics / Central Banks

By: Jesse

This is a long 'thought piece' by Simon Johnson, an eminent US economist and professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

It exposes the inherent conflicts of interest at the New York Fed, the history behind that structural flaw, and the problems it creates in a time of high powered money and financialization, with the Fed assuming even more regulatory powers from a craven Congress.

Friday, June 01, 2012

ECB in Secret Seeks Infinite Power / Politics / Central Banks

By: DeepCaster_LLC

“The Financial Times reports that the European Central Bank has secretly distributed E100 billion to Greek banks and billions more in secret to other European banks and, in doing so, has gained great "sway over eurozone politicians" -- you know, the people actually elected to run their countries.

“Infinite secret money is infinite secret power, and it's great that the FT is interested in this aspect of central bank secrecy. Is it too much to hope that the FT someday will show similar interest in the secrecy imposed by central banks on their interventions in the gold market, interventions detailed by GATA here?”

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

JPMorgan Chase and Central Banking / Politics / Central Banks

By: Frank_Shostak

On Friday, May 1, 2012, JPMorgan Chase said it suffered a $2 billion trading loss. Some commentators have suggested that the huge loss emanates from so-called proprietary trading or placing risky bets using the bank's money. The loss raised the credibility of the Volcker rule, which restricts banks from trading their own money. Despite JPMorgan Chase's large loss, the opponents of the Volcker rule are of the view that the rule, if it is introduced, will only destabilize the financial markets and make things much worse. Hence they would like to allow market forces to do their job.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Ron Paul - End of Mend the Fed? / Politics / Central Banks

By: Dr_Ron_Paul

Last week I held a hearing to examine the various proposals that have been put forth both to mend and to end the Fed. The purpose was to spur a vigorous and long-lasting discussion about the Fed's problems, hopefully leading to concrete actions to rein in the Fed.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

The Gold Standard is the Pet Peeve of the Power Elite / Politics / Central Banks

By: Gary_North

Ben Bernanke journeyed across town to give a 4-part seminar to 30 undergraduates at George Washington University.

This was clearly a public relations stunt. Why would the head of the world's most powerful central bank lecture to 30 undergraduates? This was not quite the equivalent of George W. Bush reading "My Pet Goat" to third graders, but it was close. Think of it as "My Pet Peeve." His first speech was an overview of central banking. He used PowerPoint to create slides. The presentation had 49 slides.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Don't End the Fed, Mend the Fed / Politics / Central Banks

By: Paul_L_Kasriel

Congressman Ron Paul has written a book entitled End the Fed. I have to admit that I have not read his book. But I have read many of Congressman Paul's excellent (in my opinion) essays on monetary theory and policy. Based on the essays I have read, Congressman Paul likely argues in End the Fed that the Fed and other central banks have created monetary "mischief" in the past and are likely to continue to do so in the future. Because of this monetary mischief, I assume that Congressman Paul would like to replace the Fed and other central banks with some form of a gold standard.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Bernanke's Race Against Time to Delay Economic Catastrophe / Politics / Central Banks

By: Gary_North

Ben Bernanke's position as Chairman of the Board of Governors will end on January 31, 2014. He is now in a race against time.

(1) Will the American economy fall back into recession before then, thereby negating the tripling of the monetary base under his chairmanship? Will he get out before mass inflation rears its ugly head? (2) Will he be able to pass on the Old Maid of price inflation, the way that Alan Greenspan passed on the Old Maid of the Great Recession to him?

He suffers from a major liability: he is an academic. In the history of the Federal Reserve, only three men who have held the position of Chairman of the Board of Governors have had a PhD in economics.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Federal Reserve Money Printing Inflation Pushed U.S. Economy to the Wall / Politics / Central Banks

By: Terry_Coxon

Terry Coxon, Casey Research : Decades of manipulation by the Federal Reserve (through its creation of paper money) and by Congress (through its taxing and spending) have pushed the US economy into a circumstance that can't be sustained but from which there is no graceful exit.

With few exceptions, all of the noble souls who chose a career in "public service" and who've advanced to be voting members of Congress are committed to chronic deficits, though they deny it. For political purposes, deficits work. The people whose wishes come true through the spending side of the deficit are happy and vote to reelect. The people on the borrowing side of the deficit aren't complaining, since they willingly buy the Treasury bonds and Treasury bills that fund the deficit. And taxpayers generally tolerate deficits as a lesser evil than a tax hike.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Ben Bernanke's Chilling Judy Garland Impersonation / Politics / Central Banks

By: Gary_North

"Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high."

Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a speech on April 13 on "Rethinking Finance." It certainly needs to be rethought at the highest levels. Unfortunately, Dr. Bernanke has not yet begun the process. Thinking, yes. Not rethinking.

He ended his speech with this:

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Bernanke, The Professor Who Did NOT Save the World / Politics / Central Banks

By: Fred_Sheehan

            "The Fed's efforts prevented a 'total meltdown' of the financial system at a time when fears of a second Great Depression were 'very real,' Mr. Bernanke said Tuesday at the third of his four lectures at George Washington University in Washington."

- Wall Street Journal, "'Fed Prevented Total Meltdown,' Bernanke Said," March 28, 2012.

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Marc Faber on the Badley Inflated Ego of Ben Bernanke / Politics / Central Banks

By: Videos

US President Barack Obama gave a speech accusing Republicans of "social darwinism" with budget cuts they are proposing, calling them antithetical to the country's history as a land of opportunity. But how much opportunity is there left exactly? We speak with Dr. Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom Boom & Doom report. He says that wealth destruction and social unrest may be on the way for Western economies, whose citizens are being outcompeted by those in emerging economies who are willing to work harder and are far hungrier than Westerners are.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Who Captured the Fed? / Politics / Central Banks

By: Jesse

Future generations will look back and ask themselves, 'How could they not see what was happening? Were they blind?'

The Fed is not the only problem here, but a key enabler. White collar crimes and fraud flourished amongst the robber barons even in the days of the gold standard. It just was not as convenient, as easy, to defraud the people en masse through the debasement of the currency.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Explaining Central Banking to the Publicly Educated / Politics / Central Banks

By: Jeff_Berwick

Don't understand economics?  And the thought of even trying makes your eyes cross?

That's what they want.  Government, which is an artificial, unnecessary construct has made a concerted effort to make economics sound as difficult as possible for decades.  The reason?  They can use your programmed ignorance as the publicly "educated" to confuse you about how they manipulate the economy for their benefit.

Friday, March 23, 2012

When Central Banks Fail / Stock-Markets / Central Banks

By: Clif_Droke

Ben Bernanke’s smiling face on the cover of the April issue of The Atlantic is a testimony to how short America’s collective memory is.  While the Fed chief is feted as the savior of the global economy thanks to his monetary policy genius, it’s apparent how quickly many have forgotten how his sluggish response to the brewing credit storm in 2006-2007 brought the U.S. to the edge of the abyss. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

European Central Bank Watch, Group of 30 not your dream team / Politics / Central Banks

By: ECB_Watch

In November 2011, a Brussels based lobby watchdog asked Mario Draghi to withdraw from the group of G30 because it conflicts with his duties as ECB President. In February 2012 they addressed a complaint to the ethics officer of the ECB claiming it had dodged their earlier criticism. This referral comes as it is uncovered that Draghi stated in writing that there were no relevant personal factors to be taken into account in considering his nomination in June 2011. It is misleading because it fails to disclose a conflict of interest, that is, his son working as an interest trader at Morgan Stanley (ECB-Watch). While the watchdog's criticism is purely based on principle, we point out a variety reasons why the Group of 30 does not inspire us very much. Among them, Mario Draghi is one of four members of the G30 who are connected to the Goldman-Greece (off-market currency swaps) affair.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Are the Efforts of the World Central Banks Working? / Interest-Rates / Central Banks

By: EWI

The Fed is not the world's only central bank dealing with debt. Watch as Steve Hochberg, EWI's chief market analyst, shows what has happened to GDP in countries around the world as other central banks try to "inject liquidity" into the system.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

U.S. Fed Flying Blind / Politics / Central Banks

By: Axel_Merk

In assessing whether to make tough decisions, policy makers tend to weigh the cost of action versus inaction. As critical as we are of our dear policy makers, when push comes to shove, they may rise to the occasion. But what if they are not told when it's time to act, when it's time to stop printing and spending trillions? In our assessment, the voice of reason has been silenced, posing potential risks to economic stability, as well as the U.S. dollar. That voice of reason is no other than the market itself. Let us explain.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Ron Paul, Fed Up with the Fed / Politics / Central Banks

By: Dr_Ron_Paul

While the Fed has recently released an unprecedented amount of information on its activities, there is still much that remains unknown. Predictably, every push towards transparency has been fought tooth and nail. It took disclosure requirements enacted within the Dodd-Frank Act to get the Fed to provide data on its emergency lending facilities. It took lawsuits filed by Bloomberg and Fox News to provide data on discount window lending during the worst parts of the financial crisis. And it will take further concerted action on the part of Congress, the media, and the public to keep up pressure on the Fed to become and remain transparent.