NEW YORK—Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said on Monday that financial system troubles that drove the central bank to provide large amounts of credit to banks is not collateral damage from the Fed’s aggressive effort to lower inflation. “I personally don’t think the pace of rate increases was behind the issues…

Commentary Faced with the highest inflation in 40 years, the Federal Reserve decided a year ago to adopt a restrictive monetary policy. Although there is widespread agreement monetary policy has turned restrictive, it is less clear just how restrictive monetary policy has been and what effect it will have on the economy and inflation. Measuring…

BOSTON—The founder of a defunct cryptocurrency business was sentenced on Tuesday to more than eight years in prison for defrauding investors and customers out of millions of dollars by marketing a virtual currency called My Big Coin with lies and half-truths. Federal prosecutors had urged U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston to impose a…

Commentary Is the Fed trying to wean the markets off monetary policy? Such was an interesting premise from former British diplomat Alastair Crooke via the Strategic Culture Foundation, to wit: “The Fed however, may be attempting to implement a contrarian, controlled demolition of the U.S. bubble-economy through interest rate increases. The rate rises will not slay…

Commentary Now in 2023, China is again the focus of the economic outlook. Most forecasts, whether from the public or private sector, believe China will continue to be the key growth engine worldwide. Admittedly, China is producing a very high growth number compared to many other large economies. However, the 4-5 percent real GDP (year-over-year)…

CHICAGO—The U.S. Federal Reserve is clear on the need for restrictive monetary policy to lower inflation, Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard said on Monday, but the path and pace of rate increases will remain “data-dependent” as the central bank monitors the economy and the evolution of domestic and global risks. In prepared remarks and responses…

Commentary The most important economic question to date is still the old one: whether inflation has peaked or still has some months to go. The U.S. official tone on inflation has always been on the supply side such as the logistic blockage due to Covid-19 lockdowns or the Ukraine-Russian war. The demand side of ridiculous…

Commentary The US personal consumption expenditure (PCE) based inflation released last week eased a bit from 6.6% in March to 6.3% in April. Thanks to the higher base in April 2021 than March 2021, larger denominator makes year-over-year growth lower. Analysts claim that inflation had peaked. But this number is subject to base effect and…

TOKYO—Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday it was too early to consider normalizing monetary policy, bolstering the view that the Japanese central bank would lag behind other central banks in dialing back monetary stimulus. Kuroda made the remark as the Bank of England last week became the first G7 central bank to…

WASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund’s steering committee on Thursday urged global policymakers to monitor pricing dynamics closely, but to “look through” inflationary pressures that are transitory and will fade as economies normalize. The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), made up of 24 finance ministers and central bank governors from IMF member countries, said in a…