Not a blog but a "q-and-a" (pronounced "quanda"), this page is about the basics of economics. Its premise: there are no stupid q's. And if some a's seem dim, take heart: I can brighten them up in response to objections, corrections, refinements. Comments on posts feature yours, and my responses. Enough of you now frequent and query the quanda that I post most every day. Haven't seen your q yet? Send it again. All a's should be taken with a shaker of sodium chloride, if not a Lot's-wife's-worth. And speaking of salt, the mustache and "hair" in the photo has a lot less of that condiment, and rather more pepper, than can be seen on TV. Think of it as time travel.
Tales From the Fed: Rivlin on Popular Misunderstandings of the Fed
Paul Solman: The Federal Reserve is one of the least understood government entities in the United States. When I spoke to Alice Rivlin, former vice chair of the Fed Board and now a senior fellow at Brookings, about what people least understand about what goes on at the central bank, she had this to say:
Alice Rivlin: I think average people haven't a clue what happens at the Federal Reserve. When I was appointed to the Vice-Chairmanship of the Federal Reserve, many of my good friends in Washington, of all places, said, 'That's very nice, congratulations, what does it do?' Some of them even said, 'Oh, that's terrible. Are you moving to New York?' They didn't know that the Federal Reserve was on Constitution Avenue -- the Board of the Federal Reserve. Of course, there's a bank in New York as well. But the ignorance of even my sophisticated friends about the workings of the Fed astonished me.
Check out more of the conversation in the clip below.
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Tales From the Fed: Rivlin on Popular Misunderstandings of the Fed
**Paul Solman:** The Federal Reserve is one of the least understood government entities in the United States. When I spoke to "Alice Rivlin":http://www.brookings.edu/experts/rivlina.aspx, former vice chair of the Fed Board and now a senior fellow at Brookings, about what people least understand about what goes on at the central bank, she had this to say:
_**Alice Rivlin:** I think average people haven't a clue what happens at the Federal Reserve. When I was appointed to the Vice-Chairmanship of the Federal Reserve, many of my good friends in Washington, of all places, said, 'That's very nice, congratulations, what does it do?' Some of them even said, 'Oh, that's terrible. Are you moving to New York?' They didn't know that the Federal Reserve was on Constitution Avenue -- the Board of the Federal Reserve. Of course, there's a bank in New York as well. But the ignorance of even my sophisticated friends about the workings of the Fed astonished me._
Check out more of the conversation in the clip below.
