The Federal Reserve has three primary tools to conduct Monetary Policy: reserve requirements, the discount rate, and open market operations (Quantitative Easing). Open market operations are how the Fed uses its balance sheet to provide liquidity to the market. More details can be found here. The Fed defines Open Market Operations as:
The Federal Reserve held its July meeting this week. Once again, it didn’t do anything. But there was certainly plenty of talk to dissect. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey does just that with some analysis of the messaging coming out of the Fed meeting, along with a look at the newly released GDP numbers and what they might be telling us.
The Federal Reserve insists inflation is “transitory” and the economy is making “progress.” Yet, it continues with the extraordinary monetary policy it launched at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, we’re seeing all kinds of data hinting that the economy may not be as great as advertised. Despite this, and even as prices continue to spiral higher, the Fed’s only monetary policy is talk.
Here’s the key question: what happens if the markets call the Fed’s bluff?
The Federal Reserve wrapped up its July meeting on Wednesday. Once again, there was a whole lot of talk and no action.
The Fed kept interest rates at zero. The Fed kept its quantitative easing program rolling. The Fed didn’t do anything. But the Fed had plenty to say.
For months, the markets have anticipated the Fed tightening monetary policy in order to take on rising inflation. At the June FOMC meeting, the central bank even hinted that it might start raising interest rates in 2023 instead of 2024, and the central bankers apparently talked about talking about tapering their quantitative easing bond-buying program. But with all of this talk, the loose monetary policy driving inflation continues unabated. Interest rates remain pegged at zero. The Fed balance sheet sets new records week after week. Where exactly is the exit door?
While the Federal Reserve continues to downplay inflation in the US, insisting that it is “transitory,” the Bank of Russia has gone to war with rising prices. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina says she sees “persistent factors” to inflation, and on Friday, the Russian Central bank hiked interest rates by 100 basis points to 6.5%.
In a statement, the Bank of Russia said, “The contribution of persistent factors to inflation increased due to faster growth of demand compared to output expansion capacity.”
Mainstream pundits sometimes accuse Peter Schiff of being a “stopped clock.” They admit he’s right occasionally, but only by virtue of sticking to the same narrative, talking about the malinvestments and misallocations in the economy and warning about an impending crisis. In this clip from his podcast, Peter said it’s the mainstream regulars on financial networks like CNBC who are the real stopped clocks.
Pop some popcorn. It’s time for some political theater. Congress is gearing up for another debt ceiling fight. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharey gives you a preview of the next big Washington DC blockbuster production, complete with some debt ceiling history and an explanation as to why we shouldn’t need one. Maharrey also covers retail sales, inflation and the latest movement in the gold market.
The markets have been jittery lately. The mainstream remains concerned about inflation – more specifically that the Fed is going to tighten monetary policy sooner rather than later to fight rising prices. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff makes the case that the markets are afraid of the wrong thing. They shouldn’t be worried about the Fed fighting inflation. They should be worried that it won’t.
In the Federal Reserve’s new world of “transitory” inflation, Americans are paying more to get less.
Retail sales were up 0.6% from May to June. According to the Commerce Department, American consumers spent $621 billion on retail goods and services last month. With the big 1.7% drop in May, retail sales remained below levels in March and April.