Wall Street Journal (June 11)
Unemployment has been slowly trending down in the U.S. but still remains too high. The Federal Reserve has been doing everything it can to improve the situation, but there are limits to monetary policy. In contrast, “the fiscal cupboard is not bare. There are things we could be doing to boost employment right now. That we are not doing anything constitutes malign neglect of the nation’s worst economic problem.” Instead of complacency, “policy makers should be running around like their hair is on fire…. Congress could make a good start on faster job creation simply by ending what it’s doing—destroying government jobs.”
Financial Times (April 30, 2013)
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve is coming under fire and a Congressional review has been proposed. While the Fed’s performance has not been perfect, “on the whole, the Fed has not done a bad job. Banks are stronger, the banking system functional and taxpayers increasingly in the money. Neither the UK, the eurozone, nor Japan can boast of the same. That has also made the Fed’s monetary policy much more efficient than in those economies, where the transmission of central bank money-printing to real-economy activity remains broken.”
Tags: Congress, eurozone, Federal Reserve, Japan, Monetary policy, U.S., UK
Wall Street Journal (February 8)
“Is there a better tutorial in government failure than a monopoly that loses about $25 million every day, like the U.S. Postal Service now?” With first-class volumes down a quarter in six years, drastic change is needed. The USPS wants to restructure, but is largely hamstrung by Congress. The latest plans will end Saturday delivery to save about $2 billion a year, but this would “still only solve about one-eighth of its financial problem.”
Tags: Congress, First-class, Mail, Monopoly, Restructure, Saturday delivery, U.S., USPS
New York Times (January 6)
“To put the rise of China in perspective, “the 70 richest delegates to China’s National People’s Congress have a collective net worth of almost $90 billion…. That’s more than 10 times the collective net worth of the entire American Congress.”
“To put the rise of China in perspective, “the 70 richest delegates to China’s National People’s Congress have a collective net worth of almost $90 billion…. That’s more than 10 times the collective net worth of the entire American Congress.”
Tags: China, Congress, National People's Congress, Net worth, U.S.
Washington Post (January 1)
“Congress’s feeble finish to the ‘fiscal cliff’ fiasco” is an imperfect solution. It will do “little to address the nation’s long-term debt problem. But for all its weaknesses, the bill’s enactment is far better than a failure by this Congress to act before it adjourns Thursday.”
Tags: Congress, Debt, Fiscal cliff, U.S., Weaknesses
Wall Street Journal (December 29)
“The fiscal-cliff melodrama has become one of those bad cable reality shows, a sort of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” without the sincerity though not without the plastic surgery. In the latest episode on Friday, the actors met at the White House in a last-ditch attempt to avert the cliff they had created, and that they all claim would be a catastrophe to jump off, but that they hope they can blame on each other if they do.”
Tags: Cable, Congress, Fiscal cliff, Melodrama, Reality shows, U.S., White House
USA Today (November 29)
As the U.S. approaches the fiscal cliff “an alarming number of people…are declaring that going over the cliff wouldn’t be so bad after all.” It would. Congress needs to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. “While spending cuts and tax hikes are needed to rein in federal deficits, having them kick in all at once would be like a drug overdose that plunges the economy into a new recession, according to the Congressional Budget Office and independent economists.”
Chicago Tribune (November 8)
After two years of fighting, the score in Washington looks just the same: a Republican House and a Democratic Senate. “Guaranteed gridlock? Not necessarily.” The Tribune is hopeful status quo will actually provide the momentum to overcome the looming fiscal cliff. “With Washington’s power equation constant, this is, surprisingly, the ideal moment to take unpopular steps and rescue our government from potential doomsdays — the first of them scheduled for Jan. 1, less than eight weeks away…. This lame-duck Congress and re-elected president could give the American people a marvelous holiday present.”
Tags: Congress, Democrats, Fiscal cliff, Gridlock, Republican, Washington
Wall Street Journal (October 29)
“The fiscal cliff that is looming on Jan. 2—a $500 billion combination of rising tax rates and expiring preferential tax policies—is a historic and completely obvious threat to our economy. In 2008, no one knew that the financial system was about to face cardiac arrest. But every American knows that unless Congress acts quickly, we will be hit with economy-crushing tax increases at the start of the New Year.”
Tags: Congress, Ecnomic threat, Fiscal cliff, New Year
Financial Times (September 21)
Concern is dampening initial celebration over the third quantitative easing (QE3) program, which was announced by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last week. This monetary program is not a substitute for a proper fiscal solution. QE3 is neither a “free lunch,” nor without risk. Still, “Mr Bernanke has shown commendable bravery in compensating for Congress’s inaction. But his aggressive policy stance will not work forever. US politicians would be foolish not to use wisely the time the Fed has bought them.”
Tags: Bernanke, Congress, Fed, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy, QE3, U.S.
