Aug 05 Should We Have Dealt With ‘Too Big to Fail’ in the 1980s? Question: If you go back and look at the recession of 1982, you will see that the Fed bailed out large banks mainly due to bad LDC loans. I think the precedent of moral… 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 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 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 16 Watch Paulson Defends Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Deal Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson testified Thursday in the third and final House hearing looking into the government's role in the Bank of America purchase of Merrill Lynch. Jim Lehrer discusses the hearings with Binyamin Appelbaum of the Washington Post. Continue watching
Jun 25 How Regulatory Reforms Will Affect Consumers (Cont.) By Business Desk Paul Solman: Last week, we featured a number of economists (and a journalist) responding to the new financial regulations proposed by the Obama administration. But no economic historians were among them. We’ve remedied that omission by asking Eugene… Continue reading
Jun 25 Will the Actions of the Fed and Treasury Keep Asset Prices Artificially High? Question: It seems to me like the Fed and the Treasury are trying very hard to keep asset prices high. The Fed has vastly increased the money supply, partly by lowering interest rates to zero, and partially through quantitative easing. Continue reading
Jun 18 Watch Geithner Defends Plan for Regulatory Overhaul In an interview with Jim Lehrer, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner details the administration's case for a sweeping overhaul of the financial regulation system and discusses the government's role in shaping an economic recovery. Continue watching
Jun 17 Watch Obama’s Regulatory Reform Plan Stirs Mixed Reaction Gwen Ifill speaks with a banking expert and an economist about what the administration's plans for reforming financial oversight mean for businesses and consumers alike. Continue watching
Jun 17 Will the Administration’s Regulatory Overhaul Work? Question: How serious is the administration about true reform of the financial system? Are its plans likely to work? Or is regulation a can of worms, a Pandora’s box, and every other cliche that might be subsumed under the… Continue reading