US Congress
US lawmakers seal deal on reform bill
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate conclude the conference process; text includes part of the Volcker rule, surprise bank levy, and stronger-than-expected Fed audit clause
Volcker rule faces dilution as lawmakers haggle: reports
Lawmakers in US Congress thought to be weakening Volcker rule, turning outright bans on prop trading and hedge fund investment into caps; legislation being pushed through to make 4 July deadline
Fed could win fight on monetary policy audit: reports
Media reports saw lawmakers in Congress's lower house could relent on forcing monetary policy decisions to be audited, as lawmakers work to forge swift agreement
Volcker rule fails to make approved Dodd bill
Key amendment omitted; Fed gains powers but will face audit in sweeping regulatory reform
The forces of darkness overwhelm bank reform
Banks’ lobbying and politicians’ arguments against the Dodd regulatory reform bill are lamentable, Robert Pringle writes
Greenspan defends position on free market
Former Fed Chairman deflects criticism over adherence to Ayn Rand's views on laissez-faire capitalism
Property woes will force more bank bailouts: economist
Officials right to flag risks posed by commercial real estate but Washington must also present a clear message on how to deal with the issue
Goodfriend: interest on reserves best exit policy
Marvin Goodfriend offers Congress advice on how to exit from the Fed’s accommodative stance without disrupting markets
Fed must keep regulatory oversight: Bernanke
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, criticises plans to strip the Fed of its regulatory powers
Fed chiefs unite in bid to keep wider bank supervision
Current Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and former head Paul Volcker say taking all but the biggest banks away from the central bank would be a mistake
SEC chief economist quits for private sector
Securities and Exchange Commission head economist James Overdahl will start as deputy head of a Washington consultancy at the end of March
Lawmakers clash over Fed role in consumer protection
Senior Democrats infuriated over possible revision to regulatory reform bill that would keep consumer protection under the Fed, against original promise
Discount hike was to discourage reliance on Fed: Bernanke
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke reiterates the central bank’s stance that its recent discount rate hike was in no way a policy tightening, flags term deposit facility
Senate backs Bernanke for second term
Lawmakers vote 70 to 30 in favour
NY Fed misrepresented French AIG position: Tarp overseer
Tarp overseer Neil Barofsky says Commission Bancaire would have helped secure haircuts from French counterparties of American International Group; comments contradict earlier claim by New York Fed
Keep the Fed away from politics: Dallas’s Fisher
Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher says allowing Congress to audit the Fed would be comparable to the governance crises of Weimar Germany and pre-Péron Argentina
Fed retort: nothing to hide on AIG
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, invites the government to audit the central bank’s dealings with AIG; NY Fed submits 250,000 pages of evidence to Congress
Congress forces NY Fed to reveal AIG record
Federal Reserve Bank of New York subpoenaed for records of communication with AIG
Senator calls for Fed’s powers to be cut
Chris Dodd, head of the Senate Banking Committee, submits bill demanding reduction in Fed’s supervisory ambit; calls for one overall regulator
Geithner’s scorecard for the resolution plan
Timothy Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, sets out five indicators to measure the success of the resolution plan
Securitisation not to blame for the crisis: Fed’s Tarullo
Federal Reserve’s Daniel Tarullo also reiterates calls for an oversight council
Bernanke calls for extended supervisory reach
Ben Bernanke’s five-point plan for regulatory reform includes call to share accountability for systemic risk with other regulators
Fed audit would damage economy: counsel Alvarez
Federal Reserve lawyer defends central bank against lawmakers’ attempts to scrutinise its monetary operations
Towards new microfoundations for macro
Marcus Miller surveys the challenges facing modern macroeconomics, and suggests ideas whose time may have come.