Fed says rate hike next month hinges on market volatility
Some top policymakers, including Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, said recent volatility in global markets could quickly ease and possibly pave the way for the U.S. rate hike, for which...
Some top policymakers, including Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, said recent volatility in global markets could quickly ease and possibly pave the way for the U.S. rate hike, for which investors, governments and central banks around the world are bracing.
With a key policy meeting set for Sept. 16-17, at least five Fed officials spoke publicly in what amounted to a jockeying for position on whether increasing the Fed's benchmark overnight lending rate was too risky amid an economic slowdown in China, a rising U.S. dollar .DXY and falling commodity prices XAU= CMCU3.
"It's early to tell," Fischer told CNBC on the sidelines of the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "We're still watching how it unfolds." He, along with other Fed officials, acknowledged that the global equities sell-off that began last week would influence the timing of a rate hike, which until only a couple of weeks ago seemed increasingly likely to occur in September.
Concerns about China's economy have whipsawed markets, including Wall Street, even while U.S. economic data has been robust. U.S. stock indexes ended largely unchanged, capping a week that included both the market's worst day in four years and biggest two-day gain since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
"I think they could settle fairly quickly," said Fischer, a close ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told Reuters he still favored hiking rates next month, though he added that his colleagues would be hesitant to do so if global markets continued to be volatile in mid-September.
The Fed's policy committee "does not like to move right in the middle of a global financial storm," Bullard, a Fed hawk, said in an interview. "So one of the advantages we have is that this storm is occurring now and, at least as of now, we think it will be settled down" by the September meeting.
The comments suggest the next two and a half weeks will be critical for the Fed as well as for global markets. A U.S. rate hike is expected to hit emerging market equities and currencies particularly hard, adding to the sell-offs already seen.
Source: Reuters
Puerto Ricans call for protest in Washington
“Convened by the Power4Puerto Rico coalition, refugees and civic and union groups have organized a day of protests - which could include acts of civil disobedience - and visits to offices of...
“Convened by the Power4Puerto Rico coalition, refugees and civic and union groups have organized a day of protests - which could include acts of civil disobedience - and visits to offices of members of Congress, to mark the six-month anniversary of the worst catastrophe the Island has faced in a century. The events, which begin on Monday evening, will be headed on Tuesday by a protest in front of the headquarters of FEMA in Washington DC, said Samy Nemir Olivares, spokesman for the Center for Popular Democracy.”
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Fed Up Applauds Cautious Approach to Rate Hikes This Year
02/05/2016
Statement & Booking Opportunity: Ady Barkan, Director of the Fed Up campaign, released the following statement in...
02/05/2016
Statement & Booking Opportunity: Ady Barkan, Director of the Fed Up campaign, released the following statement in response to today’s Jobs Report:
“While January’s job data shows a moderately good start to the new year, fears that global turmoil will roil the U.S. economy are giving Fed officials pause about raising interest rates. Earlier this week, San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan both suggested that recent foreign stock market instability is influencing the trajectory of projected interest rate increases by the Fed this year. Kaplan explained that stock market turmoil coupled with low commodity prices gives the Fed good reasons to be patient and take more time to assess the impact on the U.S. economy. The Federal Reserve intentionally slowed down the economy in December, ignoring the voices of working people around the country. In January, we learned that the economy barely grew at all in late 2015. And as international markets tumbled, the Fed began to walk back its excessive optimism. It’s good that Fed officials are now taking a cautious approach to rate hikes. They need to keep their eyes on the fundamentals, and prioritize higher labor force participation, higher wages, and lower racial disparities in the labor market.”
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www.whatrecovery.com
Fed Up is a coalition of community organizations and labor unions across the country, campaigning for the Federal Reserve to adopt pro-worker policies for the rest of us. The Fed can keep interest rates low, give the economy a fair chance to recover, and prioritize full employment and rising wages.
Media Contact: Anita Jain, ajain@populardemocracy.org, 347-636-9761
Sofie Tholl, stholl@populardemocracy.org, 646-509-5558
Why markets ignore Trump news
ALSO TODAY: FED UP IN WYOMING — Per release: “On the eve of the Federal Reserve’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, researchers, scholars, and workers will join Fed Up for a panel...
ALSO TODAY: FED UP IN WYOMING — Per release: “On the eve of the Federal Reserve’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, researchers, scholars, and workers will join Fed Up for a panel discussion that will set the tone for this year’s theme: “Changing Market Structure and Implications for Monetary Policy.” Thursday, August 23 - 4:00 pm MDT. “Free Speech Area” directly in front of the Jackson Lake Lodge.
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The Fed has a rare chance to prove it's not Wall Street's bank
The Fed has a rare chance to prove it's not Wall Street's bank
William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is retiring early, creating another vacancy at a central bank already in a flux of personnel changes. Here’s a suggestion to the...
William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is retiring early, creating another vacancy at a central bank already in a flux of personnel changes. Here’s a suggestion to the the New York Fed’s board of directors, which will select Dudley’s successor: Try to avoid picking another banker.
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New York City Schools' Discriminatory and Damaging School-to-Prison Pipeline
New York City Schools' Discriminatory and Damaging School-to-Prison Pipeline
New York City schools feed young black and Latino youth into a school-to-prison pipeline by leveling criminal punishments on students for small infractions and normal youthful behavior.
...
New York City schools feed young black and Latino youth into a school-to-prison pipeline by leveling criminal punishments on students for small infractions and normal youthful behavior.
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Progressive campaigners say they have no remorse over Yellen era
Progressive campaigners say they have no remorse over Yellen era
Progressives played a key role in paving the way for Janet Yellen to become the first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve in 2014. And they don’t regret it.
Left-leaning Democrats in the...
Progressives played a key role in paving the way for Janet Yellen to become the first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve in 2014. And they don’t regret it.
Left-leaning Democrats in the Senate and their allies in Washington told President Barack Obama that they would not support Lawrence Summers, his first choice for the Fed job, clearing the way for Yellen to take the helm of the central bank.
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Fed Officials Warn Congress Against Rethinking Bank’s Design
Two regional Federal Reserve presidents defended the public-private structure of the U.S. central bank in prepared testimony they’re scheduled to deliver before lawmakers on Wednesday, saying it...
Two regional Federal Reserve presidents defended the public-private structure of the U.S. central bank in prepared testimony they’re scheduled to deliver before lawmakers on Wednesday, saying it helps guard monetary policy from political interference.
“The Fed’s public-private structure supports monetary policy independence by ensuring a measure of apolitical leadership,” Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed, said in the text obtained by Bloomberg. Lacker and Esther George, head of the Kansas City Fed, are set to appear before a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee in Washington.
George said the Fed’s structure, created by Congress in 1913, “recognized the public’s distrust of concentrated power and greater confidence in decentralized institutions.”
The hearing, before the House Financial Services sub-committee on monetary policy and trade, will examine the governance of Federal Reserve banks and how it relates to the conduct of monetary policy and economic performance.
Calls for Fed reform have resonated in the U.S. presidential campaign, with Democratic party nominee Hillary Clinton joining calls for structural changes within the central bank and more diversity in the ranks of its leadership.
Fed Up
A coalition of pro-labor activists, known as Fed Up, published a paper in August, co-authored by former Fed economist Andrew Levin, arguing that the Fed should be transformed into a fully public institution, in line with central banks in most developed countries. Fed Up has been leading calls for the Fed to make its own ranks more diverse.
A separate study by Brookings Institution fellow Aaron Klein in August found that of 134 people who have served as regional Fed presidents since 1913, none were African American or Latino, and only six have been women.
“Our record in this regard, like that of many other organizations, shows a combination of substantial progress and areas where more can be done,” Lacker said on Fed diversity.
The Fed system’s Washington-based Board of Governors, appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the Senate, is considered a public agency. Its 12 regional reserve banks, however, are structured legally as private corporations owned by commercial banks in their districts. Their chiefs are appointed by non-bankers on their respective boards of directors, subject to a veto by the Board of Governors.
By Christopher Condon
Source
Total spending on Colorado campaigns initiatives nears $48 million so far
Total spending on Colorado campaigns initiatives nears $48 million so far
More than $3 million in contributions aided the slate of statewide initiatives in the final campaign finance reporting period before next Tuesday’s election, with more than $1 million in last-...
More than $3 million in contributions aided the slate of statewide initiatives in the final campaign finance reporting period before next Tuesday’s election, with more than $1 million in last-minute money bolstering the effort to increase Colorado’s minimum wage.
The two proposals to create a presidential primary and allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries also got a healthy infusion of cash, as did the measure that would make it harder to amend the state constitution.
The late flow of contributions pushed the total raised for Colorado’s ballot initiatives to nearly $48 million.
The effort concerning primary elections, spearheaded by Let Colorado Vote, the issue committee funding the campaigns for both Proposition 107 and 108, brought in more than $600,000.
Most of that came from Kent Thiry, who personally gave $300,000, and DaVita Health Care Partners, the company he heads, which pitched in $100,000. Thiry has given nearly $1.4 million of about $4 million that has gone toward those initiatives. Noble Energy joined the effort with a $200,000 contribution.
2016 COLORADO BALLOT MEASURES
Amendment 69: ColoradoCare
Amendment 70: Minimum Wage
Amendment 71: Constitutional changes
Amendment 72: Cigarette taxes
Proposition 106: Aid-in-dying
Proposition 107: Presidential primaries
Proposition 108: Unaffiliated voters
Amendment T: Slavery reference
Amendment U: Property taxes
Ballot Issue 4B: Arts funding
Organized opposition to the propositions has been sparse, with Citizens for Integrity reporting only a total of about $51,000 in non-monetary contributions for the campaign.
More than a half-million dollars rolled into the Raise the Bar campaign supporting Amendment 71, which would make it tougher to get citizen initiatives onto the statewide ballot and require more than a simple majority to pass them.
All but a small slice of that came from energy interests, who put in just shy of $500,000 in this reporting period through Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy and Energy Independence, which has given more than $2.8 million over the course of the campaign. After initially anticipating a fight against anti-fracking initiatives that ultimately didn’t make the ballot, Protecting Colorado shifted its resources to Amendment 71, which could make it even more difficult for anti-fracking forces to put measures before voters.
Opposition from the Colorado League of Responsible Voters has pumped nearly $840,000 into a campaign against the measure, including $500,000 from the National Education Association and a $100,000 contribution from the River Habitat Preservation Coalition.
A surge in cash donations supported Amendment 70, which would establish a new minimum wage in Colorado. It received much of the more than $1 million in contributions from unions and other organizations that have been supporting minimum wage increases on ballots around the country.
The Colorado campaign now totals nearly $5 million.
The Center for Popular Democracy Action Fund, based in New York, pitched in $400,000 to push its total for the campaign over $1 million; the National Education Association and Washington-based Service Employees International Union political action committee gave a series of six-figure contributions.
Opponents, who have raised about $1.7 million, brought in $154,920 on the strength of a handful of five-figure donations, including $50,000 from Greenwood Village-based Colorado Citizens Protecting Our Constitution.
Opposition to Amendment 72, the increased tax on tobacco products, has been funded by more than $16 million from Virginia-based tobacco giant Altria, but reported no additional cash contributions — though that campaign remains by far the most well-funded effort among all statewide ballot measures.
The Campaign for a Healthy Colorado, which has backed the tax that would fund a variety of health-related programs and seek to reduce smoking among young people, added nearly $150,000 — most from health-related entities. It also benefited from a $10,000 donation from Colorado Rockies owner Charlie Monfort.
Contributions to the medical aid-in-dying measure, Proposition 106, appeared to be winding down, though it remained a distant second in fundraising to the tobacco tax with about $8 million raised from both sides.
Supporters of the initiative added a little more than $73,000 to their $5.4 million total, with $50,000 of that coming from Aspen’s Adam Lewis, son of the late Progressive insurance chairman Peter Lewis. Opponents, whose $2.6 million in total contributions has been fueled largely by faith-based organizations led by the Catholic church, added about $255,000. The largest contribution came from Washington, D.C.-based The Catholic Association.
The battle over ColoradoCare, the proposed state-run health care option, also calmed on the campaign finance front, with both sides adding relatively modest five-figure contributions. Opponents of the system have raised more than $4 million while those advancing the initiative have raised less than a half-million dollars.
By The Denver Post
Source
The incredible story of how “civil rights plus full employment equals freedom"
The incredible story of how “civil rights plus full employment equals freedom"
Washington, D.C.'s think tanks produce a tsunami of studies, reports and manifestos. Most of it has a readership that, outside of wonks and reporters, could be counted on the fingers of one hand...
Washington, D.C.'s think tanks produce a tsunami of studies, reports and manifestos. Most of it has a readership that, outside of wonks and reporters, could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
It truly matters that this not be the fate of a new paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Fed Up, and the Center for Popular Democracy.
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