MONETARY POLICY
Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies
U.S. Department of the Treasury - May 2008 – 39 pages
http://www.treasury.gov/offices/international-affairs/economic-exchange-rates/052008_report.pdf
The report reviews developments in international economic and exchange rate policies, focusing on the second half of 2007. However, where pertinent and when available, data through mid-April 2008 are included and discussed. The report also includes an appendix updating issues related to Sovereign Wealth Funds. Exports and imports of goods and services to and from the countries whose economies and currencies are discussed accounted for about 85 percent of total U.S. trade in 2007.
FINANCE
Martin Neil Baily, Douglas W. Elmendorf and Robert E. Litan
The Great Credit Squeeze: How It Happened, How to Prevent Another
The Brookings Institution – Paper - May 16, 2008 – 163 pages
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2008/0516_credit_squeeze/0516_credit_squeeze.pdf
Roundtable discussion - http://www.brookings.edu/events/2008/0516_credit.aspx
“The experience of the U.S. financial system and economy during the past year vividly demonstrate the need for reform of our financial regulation and supervision. Financial markets will always experience swings between confidence and fear; between optimism and pessimism. However, effective regulation and supervision can reduce the frequency, the magnitude, and the broader consequences of these swings. […]In the report, the authors examine the origins of the current crisis and recommend specific policy responses to address both the immediate and long-term challenges.”
The Subprime Mortgage Market: National and Twelfth District Developments
FRB San Francisco - 2007 Annual Report – 12 pages
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/federalreserve/annual/2007/subprime.pdf
“Learn about the factors that led to the subprime mortgage crisis, the impact of these developments on the nation and the Twelfth District, and "lessons learned" that may contribute to financial market stability going forward. Find out about the major foreclosure prevention initiative the Community Development department launched in 2007 to understand the impact of the crisis on low- and moderate-income borrowers and neighborhoods and help homeowners in hard-hit communities avoid foreclosure.”
The U.S. Housing Bubble and the Global Financial Crisis: Housing and Housing-Related Finance
Joint Economic Committee – Study – May 2008 - 30 pages
http://www.house.gov/jec/news/Housing%20Bubble%20study.pdf
“A combination of government policy errors and private sector miscalculations and mistakes underlie the inflation and deflation of the housing bubble… The study examines how a combination of government policies fostered a credit expansion that fueled a huge bubble in the U.S. housing market, and how the popping of this bubble destabilized the international financial system.”
Alex J. Pollock
Regulatory Implications of the Housing and Mortgage Bubble and Bust
United States Congress - Joint Economic Committee - Testimony – May 14, 2008 – 8 pages
http://www.house.gov/jec/hearings/testimony/110/5-14-08/Pollock%20Testimony.pdf
“The severe housing and mortgage bust we are experiencing can best be understood as the inevitable deflation of a classic asset bubble. Historically speaking, why do we keep having these financial adventures, no matter what our technological and theoretical progress or regulatory reorganizations? Why is “a prudent banker one who goes broke when everybody else goes broke”? This witty line of Keynes points us to the eternal human elements behind the credit overexpansion that our sophisticated, globalized, computerized, and leveraged markets produced between 2003 and 2006, the subsequent debt panics of 2007 and 2008, and the continuing bust.”
Paul Volcker
Financial Crisis
U.S. Congress - Joint Economic Committee - Testimony – May 14, 2008 – 5 pages
http://www.house.gov/jec/hearings/testimony/110/5-14-08/Volcker%20Testimony.pdf
“I appreciate the opportunity to discuss informally some implications of the systemic risks in the financial system as revealed in the current crisis. This statement will simply point out some of the more important and unresolved issues as I see them. The complications are evident. There are no quick and facile answers. Your deliberations can, however, help lay the groundwork for legislation that will, I believe, be necessary, if not now in the midst of crisis and an election campaign, then in 2009.”
Turmoil and Innovation: A Look at Financial Markets in 2007
FRB Chicago - 2007 Annual Report – April 2008
http://www.chicagofed.org/about_the_fed/2007_annual_report.cfm
“Financial markets have been characterized by significant turmoil since the summer of 2007. Even as this annual report went to press in April of 2008, credit conditions remained tight, and market volatility continued to be high. These market disruptions raise many issues, but one of particular importance to the Federal Reserve System is the appropriate role of public policy in response. As the premier public policy institution for addressing financial stability issues in the U.S., the Fed must understand the underlying causes of financial disruption in order to design an appropriate policy response.”
Liz Laderman
Small Business Lending and Bank Competition
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco – Economic Letter - May 9, 2008 – 4 pages
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2008/el2008-15.pdf
“The question of how much bank financing small businesses are able to obtain is of real importance. Indeed, a regard for the volume of lending helps motivate enforcement of antitrust laws in banking. The Department of Justice and the Federal Reserve, which share responsibility for considering the effects of bank mergers and acquisitions on competition in local banking markets, do so, in part, because theory says that more competition generates more lending. The author examines what the data say about the relationship between the degree of competition in small business lending in local geographic banking markets and the total volume of small business lending in those markets.”
Industrial Loan Companies: Commercial businesses face head-on opposition to entering the banking sector
FRB Kansas - Article – Ten - Spring 2008 – 8 pages
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/TEN/pdf/spring2008/ILCs.pdf
“Current law leaves ILCs as the only option for businesses like Wal-Mart and Home Depot to open a bank, but this possibility causes uproar.”
Edwin M. Truman
The Rise of Sovereign Wealth Funds: Impacts on US Foreign Policy and Economic Interests
The Brookings Institution - Testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs - May 21, 2008 – 14 pages
http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/papers/truman0508.pdf
“Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) pose the greatest risks to the citizens of the countries whose governments have accumulated the large stocks of international assets, but authorities in the United States and other countries where those assets are invested also have legitimate concerns about how these funds will be managed.[…] The author concludes that though the potential impacts are disquieting, SWFs do not pose a significant new threat to US foreign policy, national security, and economic interests.”
James K. Jackson
Foreign Direct Investment in the United States: An Economic Analysis
Congressional Research Service - Library of Congress – Report - Web posted May 20, 2008 – 6 pages
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS21857_20080319.pdf
“Foreign direct investment in the United States declined sharply after 2000, when a record $300 billion was invested in U.S. businesses and real estate. In 2006, according to Department of Commerce data, foreigners invested $184 billion. Foreign direct investments are highly sought after by many State and local governments that are struggling to create additional jobs in their regions. While some in Congress encourage such investment to offset the perceived negative economic effects of U.S. firms investing abroad, others are concerned about foreign acquisitions of U.S. firms that are considered essential to U.S. national and economic security.”
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