In remarks at a conference in Shanghai, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard discussed the economic recovery underway in the U.S. and around the world, several key U.S. monetary policy issues, and the growing need for better analysis and understanding of asset price bubbles. Bullard presented his remarks, “The First Phase of the U.S. Recovery [...]

Economist Joel Waldfogel has for many years argued in favour less gift giving at Christmas. His latest book (just in time for Christmas!) is Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays. Waldfogel maintains that Christmas is an ‘orgy of wealth destruction,’ which he estimates at US$13 billion a year for the United States [...]

Just when many thought the global financial crisis was over, it re-emerges with a bang. This week, Greece and Spain both had their credit ratings downgraded. Standard & Poor’s changed Spain’s outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative.’ For Greece, the news was even worse: Fitch revalued Greece’s creditworthiness to BBB+, just a few steps above junk [...]