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Blog
Lessons Kevin Warsh can learn from the late Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan’s recent passing provides an opportunity to reassess his legacy as Chairman of the Federal Reserve and consider the lessons Kevin Warsh can…
Blog
Before reform comes review: What Warsh’s task forces could mean for the Fed
Major institutional reforms rarely begin with sweeping policy changes. More often, they begin with a willingness to reexamine long-standing assumptions. That is what makes…
Blog
Remembering Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan passed away this week. National Review was kind enough to run my remembrance of him: There…
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Blog
Lessons Kevin Warsh can learn from the late Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan’s recent passing provides an opportunity to reassess his legacy as Chairman of the Federal Reserve and consider the lessons Kevin Warsh can…
Blog
Before reform comes review: What Warsh’s task forces could mean for the Fed
Major institutional reforms rarely begin with sweeping policy changes. More often, they begin with a willingness to reexamine long-standing assumptions. That is what makes…
Blog
Remembering Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan passed away this week. National Review was kind enough to run my remembrance of him: There…
Washington Times
Inflation rises again, driven by energy costs amid Iran war
The Washington Times cites Finance and Monetary Policy Analyst Steve Swedberg on inflation and rising costs: “The economic data provide little support for…
News Release
Inflation still stubbornly high in May, future rate increase growing more likely: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for May shows inflation rose 0.5 percent across all sectors, with energy continuing to be a major factor…
Blog
Less discretion, more discipline: Three focus areas for Warsh at the Fed
New Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh should focus on three dimensions of reform: how the Fed makes decisions, the size of its market footprint,…
Blog
The limits of balance sheet runoff at the Fed
At his confirmation hearing last week, Kevin Warsh called for a smaller Federal Reserve balance sheet. This statement revives debate over how the…
News Release
Fed keeps a hold on interest rates for now, debate on balance sheet a highlight for next Fed Chair-hopeful Warsh: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve has decided to keep interest rates steady, aligning with economists’ and financial analysts’ predictions. With the Senate Banking Committee voting…
Blog
A quantitative easing hangover has the Fed in a balance sheet trap
As Kevin Warsh undergoes the Fed Chair confirmation process, debate has returned to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and how it should be managed…
Blog
Quantitative easing and the Fed’s free lunch problem
As Kevin Warsh undergoes his confirmation process for Fed Chair, one of the most consequential yet least straightforward issues in modern monetary policy is…
News Release
Fed Chair nominee Warsh has mixed signals in Senate hearing
Kevin Warsh’s confirmation hearing for Federal Reserve Chair in the Senate today prompted questions about future Fed policies. While his testimony had promising signals,…
Blog
Forward guidance is not a crystal ball: A case for rules-based monetary policy
Throughout history, the urge to predict the future has been hard to resist. The Federal Reserve is not immune to such temptation. In recent…
Blog
From lifeline to lifestyle: How quantitative easing became the Fed’s default setting
The nomination of Kevin Warsh has renewed scrutiny of the Federal Reserve’s expanding role in the economy. One of the most consequential shifts in…
Blog
Dual mandate, dual headache: Why the Fed should focus on price stability
With Kevin Warsh set to appear before the Senate for his Fed confirmation hearing, the question of his monetary priorities is taking center stage.
Blog
Questions Kevin Warsh needs to answer if he is to become the next Fed Chair
A new CEI paper out today by John Berlau, Ryan Young, and myself offers some questions that Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh…
Study
Questions for Kevin Warsh
Kevin Warsh is President Trump’s choice to succeed Jerome Powell as the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Warsh’s…
Blog
Trump EO on crypto reserves rightly eschews government purchases
After much anticipation, President Donald Trump’s newly issued executive order (EO) on a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and “digital asset stockpile” does not call…
Blog
Jerome Powell risks the Fed’s gains against inflation
The big story from today’s Federal Reserve decision isn’t that interest rates are staying the same. It’s that the dual mandate is back.
The Federalist
It’s Time For Congress To Take Out America’s Regulatory Trash
The Federalist cites CEI on yearly regulations: According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), 2019 was the only year on record…
Blog
There is no such thing as a free lunch, especially under MMT.
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has emerged in recent years as a highly-debated economic concept, challenging traditional views on national debt and money. MMT is…
Blog
A rule for the Fed
The Washington Examiner is running a series of pieces on policies the next administration should pursue. My contribution details a way to contain…
Blog
Fed flirts with stimulus
As expected, the Federal Reserve signaled its commitment to fighting inflation by holding interest rates steady at this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
Blog
Weak GDP is first stress test for inflation fighters
I have been saying for a while that inflation expectations will remain high until policymakers prove they can restrain their stimulus spending during an…
Blog
February inflation stays high, fiscal credibility remains a problem
Headline CPI inflation numbers sped up in February. Monthly inflation increased 0.3 percent in January, and 0.4 percent in February. Year-to-year inflation is…
News Release
January’s inflationary numbers higher than most realize: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index numbers for January reportedly rose 0.3 percent compared to the month before, but CEI’s senior economist Ryan Young explains…
Washington Examiner
White House pushes ‘shrinkflation’ messaging to assign blame to corporations
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited on the Washington Examiner: “Shrinkflation is real, but it’s not a partisan issue. Shrinkflation is part of the…
Blog
Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next year?
As expected, the Federal Reserve kept the federal funds rate the same this week, which influences other interest rates, including car and mortgage payments.
Blog
Inflation holds steady, Fed interest rates likely to stay put
The Consumer Price Index went up 0.1 percent in the month of November. Its 12-month increase is 3.1 percent, same as last month’s…
Blog
Inflation makes regulations even more expensive
The just-released 2023 edition of Wayne Crews’ Ten Thousand Commandments report estimates that the total cost of complying with all federal regulations is…
Econlib
Seeking an Explanation for the Stagnation
This is the second of two posts I am writing in reaction to Adam Martin, who wrote two responses to my essay about ways in…
Blog
August CPI: Rising energy prices hide underlying inflation progress
This month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a jumble of numbers that look like they contradict each other. But they make sense on…
Blog
Foreign currency manipulation is a red herring
Trade policy is finding its way back into the spotlight thanks to the 2024 election campaign. Both the Biden administration and GOP…
Blog
No taming inflation without an independent Fed
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell recently testified before Congress for the semi-annual Monetary Policy Report. The Fed has been under fire from both…
Blog
Fed Chair Powell hearing: more to do on inflation
At his semiannual congressional testimony this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell hinted that the Fed likely is not done raising interest rates. This…
Blog
The Many Harms of Unlimited Deposit Insurance
Unlimited deposit insurance – the government guaranteeing that bank accounts of any size be made whole-in the event of a bank failure – would…
Blog
Fed Credibility Depends on it Continuing to Raise Rates
Today’s federal funds rate hike is good news because it signals commitment. That will help the public to expect the Fed to continue…
Bloomberg
Biden Vows to Hold Banks Accountable, Urges Stronger Rules (2)
John Berlau, director of finance policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said “prudent banks suffering the fallout from SVB should…
Blog
House Financial Services Committee Leans on SEC’s Gensler for More Transparency
House Financial Services Committee Leans on SEC’s Gensler for More Transparency Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee and some allies in the…
Politico
Three names Biden is circling for Fed Vice Chair
ON BLAST — Former FTC Chair Timothy Muris and Bruce Kobayashi, who served as director of the commission’s bureau of economics during the Trump administration,…
Blog
Mixed Inflation News for January
Today’s inflation news is mixed. We’re still almost certainly past the worst of the COVID inflation, but January’s numbers took a turn for…
Washington Examiner
Republicans can use the debt ceiling fight to better prepare Americans for the next economic crisis
On the outside chance that House Republicans are able to wrangle President Joe Biden into cutting federal spending to set a new…
Real Clear Investigations
The Left’s Little Financial Engine That Could (Change the World Radically)
Richard Morrison, senior fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, said Amalgamated can, at a minimum, “serve as an example for other managers and…
Blog
State of the Union and Inflation
Presidents, like quarterbacks, get too much blame when things go badly, and too much when things go well. Look for President Biden to take…
Crowd Fund Insider
House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions Schedules Hearing to Discuss Banking and Need to Update Regulations in Line with Emerging Technology
CEI’s John Berlau is cited on Crowd Fund Insider on banking regulations: The House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, part of…
Americans for Tax Reform
Q&A on Credit Card Regulation
Americans for Tax Reform has been consistently opposed to government regulation of debit and credit card transactions. Last year, ATR opposed the Credit…
Blog
The Debt Ceiling and the Trillion-Dollar Coin
Another debt ceiling battle is brewing, and pundits are debating what to do about it. Over at National Review’ Capital Matters, I take a…
Blog
Federal Reserve Declines to Become Climate Regulator
Most agencies can either do one thing well or many things poorly. For example, the Federal Reserve would be perfectly capable of keeping inflation…
Blog
Agenda for Congress: Inflation
CEI’s Agenda for Congress is out now. This post summarizes its recommendations for inflation. Since inflation is mostly a monetary phenomenon, it…
News Release
Fed Raises Rates Again to Slow Inflation
The Federal Reserve has been trying to slow inflation by raising interest rates, today issuing its smallest rate increase since June – raising the…
Blog
Gas Prices Are Lower than a Year Ago: What Does that Mean for Inflation?
Even with inflation near 40-year highs, gas prices are lower than a year ago, and not just in real, inflation-adjusted terms. They’re lower…
Blog
Retro Review: George Selgin, Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing Economy (Institute of Economic Affairs, 1997)
This year, inflation reached levels not seen in 40 years. The Federal Reserve spent most of 2022 trying to undo its runaway money creation…
Blog
October Inflation Slightly Improves: Time for Less Politics and More Policy
Thank goodness the election is over. One of the frustrating parts of midterm season was that many people were more interested in how inflation…
Blog
Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rate; Uncertainty Strengthens Case for a Policy Rule
As expected, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage points coming out of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee…
Issues & Insights
Voters who think that putting Republicans in control of the House and Senate will make a big difference for the economy are in for a rude awakening. President Joe Biden has unleashed the regulatory Leviathan. Lawmakers will be hard-pressed to stop the damage.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) just this morning released its hugely valuable report called “10,000 Commandments,” which is a compendium of the regulatory state. In…
Blog
CPI Rises 0.4 Percent in September, 8.2 Percent over Past Year
September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation numbers came out this morning, and they aren’t pretty. The month-to-month increase was 0.4 percent, after rising…
Blog
Troubling Inflation News: Core PCE Increases 0.6 Percent
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation indicator, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), was updated this morning with August’s numbers. PCE measures inflation more accurately than…
Blog
Fed Raises Federal Funds Rate
As expected, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points as part of its inflation-fighting efforts. Its target range…
Blog
Mixed News on CPI: Headline Rate Improves, Core Rate Accelerates
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August is out. It increased 8.3 percent over the last year, down from 8.5 percent in July.
Blog
Fed Chairman Powell’s Remarks at Cato Monetary Conference
Every year, our friends at the Cato Institute hold a monetary policy conference. This year’s conference opened with Cato President Peter Goettler interviewing…
Blog
The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Measure Improves, Mixed Picture on Consumer Spending
Two new economic indicators published Friday morning give reason for cautious optimism. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the inflation measure that gets…
Blog
CPI Gives Reason for Cautious Optimism on Inflation
Inflation may finally be coming down. July’s month-to-month Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase dropped to zero last month, down from 1.3 percent in June.
News Release
Statement by CEI Senior Fellow Ryan Young on the Fed’s Interest Rate Hike
The Federal Reserve today announced a 0.75 percentage point increase in the federal funds rate. It is the fourth such increase this year, and…
Blog
Getting Inflation Wrong and Making It Right
Everyone makes mistakes. Owning up to them is an underrated life skill that is almost non-existent among political pundits. Doubling down when threatened is…
News Release
U.S. Economy Adds 372,000 Jobs in June – Good News for Recession Worries
The U.S. economy added 372,000 jobs in June 2022, according to a new tally released today by the government. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held…
Blog
CPI Slightly Up, Inflation Slightly Down?
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May increased to an annualized 8.6 percent rate over the last year, reaching another new 40-year high. Even…
News Release
Inflation Still 4x Higher than Target Rate, New Government Numbers Show
The inflation rate isn’t much changed from last month’s high figure, 8.3 percent compared to 8.5 percent, new government data shows. CEI Senior Fellow…
Blog
What Is Core Inflation?
The new inflation numbers are out, and they aren’t pretty. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) went up 0.3 percent during April, and is…
Blog
Biden’s Inflation Speech: Top Domestic Priority
President Biden gave remarks on Tuesday declaring inflation his top domestic priority. Like many people, he seems not to understand that inflation is…
Blog
Fed Hikes Interest Rate: Bigger News on Bond Portfolio Mostly Neglected
The Fed this week announced a half percentage point hike in its federal funds rate. This is the right thing to do, but…
Blog
GDP Shrinks: The Good and the Bad
The advance estimate for 2022’s first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) is in, and the news is not good. Adjusting for inflation, GDP…
Blog
Inflation Rises to 8.5 Percent: Straining for Optimism
High inflation will likely be with us for a while, which means I’ll be writing a lot of posts like this. So, for the…
Blog
Inflation and the Biden Budget
It is good that the Biden administration is beginning to take inflation seriously. Unfortunately, however, there isn’t much that the president and Congress…
The Washington Times
Wholesale Prices Soared Again in January as Inflation Remains Near Record Highs
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on the Fed’s response to inflation: Ryan Young, a senior fellow at the…
Letters
CEI and Other Organizations Urge Support for Pro-Growth ALIGN Act
Dear Chair Wyden, Chair Neal, Ranking Member Crapo, Ranking Member Brady, and Members of the Senate Committee on Finance and House Committee on Ways…
News Release
Fed Plans for Central Bank Digital Currency Pose Big Risk to Financial Sector, Economy
The US Federal Reserve today published a discussion paper on central bank digital currencies or CBDCs, signaling policymakers’ ambitions to start one. CEI expert Paul Jossey, author…
News Release
Latest Producer Price Index Indicates Inflation Too High
The government’s latest numbers on average changes in prices, as measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI), are up at an annualized rate of…
Blog
New Inflation Numbers: Still High, Still Fixable
July’s inflation numbers are out. The annualized Consumer Price Index came in at 5.4 percent, compared to a 2 percent target. The month-to-month…
Letters
CEI Joins Letter to Yellen on Federal Overreach of COVID Funds
Dear Secretary Yellen, On March 11, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Act), which authorizes $1.9 trillion…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Urging Congress to Reject the Restoration of Earmarks
Dear Member of Congress, On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our millions of members and supporters from across the country, we urge…
News Release
Biden’s SEC Pick Should Focus on Commission’s Core Mission, Not Political Causes: CEI Experts
President-elect Biden is reportedly set to select Gary Gensler to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler is a current MIT professor who previously…
News Release
Comptroller Plan to Impose ‘Fairness Doctrine’ for Banks Goes Against Freedom of Association
CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau criticized a proposal by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to impose a “fairness…
American Greatness
U.S. Economy Suffers Biggest Quarterly Decline Ever, Under Coronavirus Lockdowns
American Greatness cites CEI senior fellows John Berlau and Iain Murray: The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are considering bills for additional coronavirus relief…
The Crypto Report
Ron Paul Fights For Bitcoin After Fed’s Payments System Threatens Crypto
The Crypto Report cites CEI senior fellow John Berlau regarding FedNow: Ever the champion of individual liberty, it is no surprise that Ron Paul…
News Release
Broad Alliance of Financial Services and Public Interest Groups File Petition for Rulemaking Challenging SEC’s Unlawful Regulation by Enforcement
The need for our government to set forth consistent, predictable rules has never been greater, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is no exception. …
News Release
Congress Should Reject Scheme to Use COVID-19 Stimulus to Impose Interest Rate Cap
Special interest groups are pressuring Congress to use the Coronavirus Stimulus Phase III bill as a vehicle for imposing a nationwide interest rate cap on…
Blog
Defiance of Congress Melts Federal Reserve Credibility
In advance of his testimony yesterday before the House Financial Services Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was the subject of a front-page story in The…
Blog
Facebook Libra Highlights Flaws of Fed Foray into Real-Time Payments
More than ten years after the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published the source code for Bitcoin, and after hundreds of other cryptocurrencies have been introduced, Facebook…
Phys.org
With Virtual Money, Facebook Bets on Disrupting the World, Again
Phys.org cites CEI’s Senior Fellow on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency. “If successful, Libra could have benefits for consumers and small businesses in reducing the transaction…
Marketplace
Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Prompts Regulation Concerns
Marketplace cites CEI’s Research Fellow Patrick Hedger on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency. Patrick Hedger, a research fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the Libra…
Blog
Alice Rivlin, 1931-2019
Some economists do more than teach classes and write books. Alice Rivlin, who passed away this week, was proof. She was the first director of…
Inside ARM
BREAKING: Senate Confirms Kraninger As Next Director Of BCFP
Inside ARM cited CEI’s Senior Fellow John Berlau on Kathy Kraninger confirmation. Today, the Senate voted on and confirmed Kathy Kraninger as the…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Support of the Death Tax Repeal Act
The undersigned organizations support your bill, the Death Tax Repeal Act. We appreciate your work to lead the country towards a common sense tax code that…
Yahoo Finance!
New House Bill Would Kill Consumer Watchdog Payday Loan Rule
Yahoo! Finance cited Daniel Press on the necessity of access for consumers to receive a payday loan. A congressional resolution introduced in the House…
Bloomberg Law
House Bid to Ax Payday Rule Kicks Off With Bipartisan Support
Bloomberg Law cited Daniel Press on the leadership expressed by House lawmakers for blocking a law that would impede upon the loan-granting process that would…
The Washington Examiner
CFPB’s ‘NSA-like’ surveillance in limbo with leadership tussle
The Washington Examiner quoted John Berlau in the need for regulatory reform and the need to eliminate the cache of consumer data which the CFPB…
Newsmax
Stop Stealth Capital Gains Tax Hike in Senate Bill
It’s crunch time on tax reform. The House passed a bill just before Thanksgiving. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. A good tax reform bill would…
The Hill
Why are we still regulating Main Street like Wall Street?
It’s no secret that banks across America aren’t doing well under the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. Since Dodd-Frank’s enactment in…
U.S. News & World Report
Cutting Off Consumers
A new regulation will burden low- and middle-income Americans reliant on payday loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just released a new rule against payday…
Las Vegas
Think Tank Releasing Report On New Jersey Challenge To Sports Betting Act
Las Vegas Review-Journal quotes Michelle Minton the impact on consumer freedom which a federal sports gambling known as PASPA poses. When the U.S.
Bloomberg