Jul 31 Tales From the Fed: Blinder on Greenspan Paul Solman: The last in our extended interviews on the Fed: Alan Blinder, who served as the vice chairman of the Fed Board of Governors between 1994 and 1996, weighing in on Alan Greenspan’s legacy and what it was… Continue reading
Jul 30 Tales From the Fed: Blinder on Fed Transparency By Business Desk Paul Solman: The Federal Reserve has long had a reputation for being secretive. Its closed-door policy has fueled suspicions and countless conspiracy theories since the central bank was established nearly a century ago. And since the Fed has moved rapidly… Continue reading
Jul 30 Tales From the Fed: Rivlin on Fed Independence Paul Solman: Tonight on the NewsHour, we’re airing a piece exploring the suspicions some people have about the Federal Reserve and the the Fed’s efforts to be more transparent. Amid all the talk of auditing the Fed or having… Continue reading
Jul 30 How Can the Repaid TARP Money Be Used? Question: Is the $68 billion that big banks are paying back in TARP money going back to the taxpayer or can it be reused by the Treasury in some of its other schemes (e.g. Continue reading
Jul 29 Tales From the Fed: Rivlin on Popular Misunderstandings of the Fed Paul Solman: The Federal Reserve is one of the least understood government entities in the United States. When I spoke to Alice Rivlin, former vice chair of the Fed Board and now a senior fellow at Brookings, about what… Continue reading
Jul 28 Making Sen$e of the Federal Reserve Paul Solman: The newest edition of Making Sen$e, our site devoted to demystifying economics, is now up. As cutting-edge cyberspace cadets, we’re calling it “Making Sense 3.0,” but it really could be termed Making Sen$e of the Fed, as… Continue reading
Jul 28 Tales From the Fed: Blinder on the Fallout from Lehman’s Failure By Business Desk Paul Solman: All this week, we’re posting excerpts of interviews we did with former Fed officials on the economic crisis and the Fed’s evolving role in the economy. The series is in conjunction with the NewsHour’s hour-long public forum… Continue reading
Jul 28 Thaler Responds to Posner on Consumer Protection Paul Solman: Earlier this month, I was pleased to learn that one of the most intriguing economists of my career span, the University of Chicago’s Richard Thaler, had entered the rotation of the… Continue reading
Jul 27 Tales From the Fed: Rivlin on the Perfect Storm By Business Desk Paul Solman: In preparation for our NewsHour event with Ben Bernanke in Kansas City last night, we interviewed a variety of former Fed officials to discuss the past, present, and future of the central bank. Two especially intriguing interviewees… Continue reading
Jul 24 Should the Government Set Up a National Lottery? Question: No one wants to pay higher taxes. But at the same time, many people don’t think twice about spending a few dollars a week on a lottery ticket. Why doesn’t the government set up a National Lottery to supplement… Continue reading