Ranging from current sluggers to past players, the market for baseball cards has created prices that are below $2 and more than $3 million.…
The $4 Trillion Question
Although quantitative easing flooded the banking system with trillions of dollars, we are still debating how much it lifted the economy.…
Some Federal Reserve (Gallows) Humor
In the 2009 transcripts, Federal Reserve humor brings smiles and memories of the dire condition of finance, housing and the GDP.…
How Does a Helicopter Drop $4 Trillion?
When the Federal Reserve’s three basic monetary policy tools did not work, it created quantitative easing to up economic growth and decrease unemployment.…
Humor in Fed Transcripts
Below, just a reminder of one piece of the Great Recession before looking at the Fed transcripts. Lehman Brothers is the orange line. With a typical 5-year lag, the transcripts of the 2008 Fede…
The Money Supply: The New Hundred Dollar Bill
Our story begins in 2010 when the United States announced that it would be issuing a state-of-the-art $100 bill. Designed to thwart counterfeiters, the new bill has 3-D interactive features. When you …
Monetary Policy: The Punch Bowl
Sort of like Max in Maurice Sendak’s, Where the Wild Things Are, the Federal Reserve sometimes says, “And now, let the wild rumpus start.” Then though, Max cries out, “Now stop…
Monetary Policy: QE Insight
At a 2002 conference honoring Milton Friedman on his 90th birthday, then Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke concluded his remarks with… “Regarding the Great Depression. You’re rig…
Correlation or Causation: Federal Reserve Humor
I can remember a combination of euphoria and uneasiness as we we had some early signs of the credit crisis during 2007, the stock market peaked in October, and then in December the recession began. Wi…
QE3 and the Baby Boomers
At the beginning of yesterday’s QE3 press conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke referred to the plight of savers. Similarly, during an August “Conversation With the Chairman,” Dr. Be…