Tag: Federal Reserve

Custodia failed to wet the Fed’s beak.

Custodia’s application should have interwoven the currency validation narrative into its sales pitch to the Fed. It would still have had to address the illicit activities/AML issues, but the Board’s ears may have stayed open a little while longer, giving Custodia time to finagle the right language or work out some compromise.

There is no such thing as “moral hazard” surrounding this bank bailout.

What the “moral hazard” critics overlook is the economic impact on those of us who rely primarily on wages to get by. Hiccups in the current monetary and financial system in the immediate term that change the wage earners standard of living have a greater detrimental impact versus those individuals buttressed by the ownership of claims on income. While it behooves the wage earner to reduce his or her exposure to the current monetary and financial system, the short-term bandage on this injury should be applied. The wage earner should bear in mind that this fix is short-term and that it is up to us to seek out a longer-term solution.

Interbank Market News Scan: Hours away from Powell’s testimony, the Fed should do a one and done with the fed funds rate.

While I believe that the FOMC will vote to raise rates, how much the rates increase by will be a decision driven by politics as it is by economics. The United States is entering the silly season of campaigning that runs up to the 2024 presidential election. As the expenditures stemming from President Biden’s infrastructure spending and financial support for Ukraine seep through the economy, the last thing the Administration wants to contend with is increased financial stress on American households. Mr Biden would prefer to see the Federal Reserve bring a pause to the inflation fight by the end of this spring, putting the pain into the past as soon as possible while crafting a narrative that places the full blame for inflation on the central bank.