Bailout and Financial Crisis News

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: The Federal Reserve’s role in bank supervision Professor Hamilton supports Bernanke’s view: Bank supervision and the Federal Reserve The Fed employs hundreds of extremely bright and very well-informed economists. On my visits to the Federal Reserve, I’ve been amazed at how well the staff work together to assimilate information and perspectives. In my [...]

In a preview of what is likely to be a flurry of amendments from Democrats and Republicans on the bill to overhaul banking rules, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Wednesday said he would offer amendments on the Senate floor to “limit credit card interest rates and discourage” secrecy at the Federal Reserve, two populist [...]

(This guest post originally appeared at FederalReserve.gov) Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and other members of the Committee, I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the Federal Reserve’s role in bank supervision and the actions that we are taking to strengthen our supervisory oversight. The Federal Reserve’s Role in Supervision Like many central banks around [...]

This is just a reminder to take FOMC forecasts with a grain of salt. First, the NBER determined that the great recession started in December 2007, and the FOMC met that same month - so we can see what they were thinking. The participant were aware that the incoming data was weakening, but their outlook was [...]

From the Fed: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January suggests that economic activity has continued to strengthen and that the labor market is stabilizing. Household spending is expanding at a moderate rate but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment [...]

We’ve been arguing that the revelations from the Lehman bankruptcy examiner’s report deal a serious blow to the ideology of regulation. Today Andrew Ross Sorkin provides really damning evidence against the idea that greater financial regulation leads to a safer financial system. From Sorkin— Almost two years ago to the day, a team of officials from the [...]

(This guest post originally appeared at The Senator’s website) Mr. President, last Thursday, the bankruptcy examiner for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. released a 2,200 page report about the demise of the firm which included riveting detail on the firm’s accounting practices.  That report has put in sharp relief what many of us have expected all along:  [...]

Excitement is high in the Chinese real estate market and even Chinese insurance companies are jumping into the fray. Most notably, China Life (LFC US, 2628 HK), China’s largest insurance company by assets, is actively looking for architects: Caing: China Life Properties, with registered capital at 254.4 billion yuan, has 2.9 billion yuan of total assets. Besides insurance, [...]

For those interested, here is the text of the proposed bill. It is only 1,336 pages long … Some overviews: From Sewell Chan at the NY Times: Mr. Dodd said he believed there was substantial bipartisan agreement on 9 of the bill’s 11 provisions, the exceptions being consumer protection and corporate governance.…The major flashpoints will include, among other [...]

The Federal Reserve funds itself, making money on the buying and selling and holding of U.S. government and mortgage-backed securities, among other things. After paying its expenses, any profits go to the U.S. Treasury. It prizes this independence from the congressional appropriations process. It seems the Senate Banking Committee has discovered [...]

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