Federal Reserve

Regulators end week like they started — tamping down fears, rescuing a bank

BY: - March 20, 2023

Financial regulators, policymakers, and bank executives spent last week trying to abate fears that a banking crisis will spread across the U.S. financial system.  On Friday, President Joe Biden released a statement calling on Congress to take action to make it easier for regulators to hold senior bank executives accountable for their mismanagement.  “It should […]

Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse differs from our last financial crisis

BY: - March 15, 2023

After the largest U.S. bank failure in more than a decade, regional bank stocks plunged on Monday as the federal government — with the 2007-2008 financial crisis still a fresh memory for many — rushed to reassure Americans that the U.S. banking system was stable. President Joe Biden told Americans that the risks taken on […]

Biden says U.S. bank deposits are safe despite tumult over California bank collapse

BY: - March 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden reassured Americans early Monday that their money is safe in U.S. banks, after a tumultuous weekend following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and a move by regulators to shut down a second lender. Americans “should feel confident that their deposits will be there, if and when they need them,” […]

Powell signals higher interest rates. Here’s why Friday’s jobs report will affect Fed’s decision.

BY: - March 9, 2023

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week that interest rate increases could be higher and come faster if Friday’s unemployment data shows the nation’s labor market isn’t cooling off. Stock indexes fell after his comments. That’s been a familiar pattern over the past year as the federal bank has tried to combat inflation.  A […]

The Fed raises interest rates again, signals more coming despite pressure to slow the pace

BY: - November 3, 2022

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that in its continuing efforts to tamp down inflation, it would raise interest rates yet again by another three-quarters of a point to a target range of 3.75 to 4%. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference following the announcement that the “historically fast pace” of […]

Nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin for Fed seat in doubt after Manchin opposition

BY: - March 15, 2022

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III will not support one of President Joe Biden’s picks to sit on the Federal Reserve Board, Sarah Bloom Raskin of Maryland, Manchin said Monday. The announcement casts serious doubt on the chances of Senate confirmation for Raskin, who was a Fed governor from 2010 to 2014 and deputy Treasury secretary […]

COMMENTARY

What is the Fed taper? An economist explains how the Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus

BY: - December 22, 2021

By Edouard Wemy, Clark University Tapering refers to the Federal Reserve policy of unwinding the massive purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities it’s been making to shore up the economy during the pandemic. The unconventional monetary policy of buying assets is commonly known as quantitative easing. The Fed first adopted this policy during the […]

Biden administration resists Democrats’ pleas on student debt relief as deadline nears

BY: - December 21, 2021

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are urging the White House to extend the freeze on student loan repayments, and for the president to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt — but so far the administration is not budging. The standoff is one of the more noticeable splits between President Joe Biden and members of his […]