An influential Federal Reserve policy maker has a word of caution to financial markets: Any move to slow the Fed’s bond-buying won’t make further tapering or the end of the program a foregone conclusion, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said in...
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Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, listens during a Joint Economic Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2013.
Fed’s Williams: First QE Moderation Won’t Signal More Tapering
Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Ford trucks at a dealership in Colma, California.
Detroit Automakers Offer More Octane for Economy
The most aggressive economic stimulus in the Federal Reserve’s 100-year history has the wheels turning for Detroit automakers. Cheaper borrowing costs and rising stock portfolio values are giving Americans the confidence to make big-ticket purchases. It’s welcome news for a...
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Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks on television in New York.
Shrinking Deficit Likely to Help Fed Reduce Bond Buys
When the Federal Reserve announced it would purchase $45 billion a month of Treasury bonds to support the economy, it probably anticipated there’d be plenty to buy. After all, the Fed made its December announcement just a few months after...
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Photograph by Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Dental work performed at a free health clinic for the uninsured and underinsured at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
Health Care Costs Slow: Inflation Curb
The cost of health care in the U.S. is rising at the slowest pace in four decades, helping curb inflation. The consumer-price index dropped 0.4 percent in April from the prior month, a second consecutive decrease and the biggest since...
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Photograph by Kristian Helgesen/Bloomberg
Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipping company, will stop plying through the Panama Canal to move goods from Asia to the U.S. east coast as bigger ships help the company move it profitably through Suez Canal.
Import Prices: Disinflation Concern
To anyone worried about global disinflation, today’s Labor Department report on the cost of goods imported into the U.S. will prove sobering. The import-price index dropped 0.5 percent in April from the prior month as fuel costs retreated 1.7 percent....
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Photograph by Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg
Charles Evans, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Evans to Fed Skeptics: QE Working
With characteristic vigor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans had a message today for skeptics of the central bank’s unprecedented stimulus measures known as quantitative easing. From auto loans to mortgages and employment, all signs are pointing to...
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Photograph by George Frey/Bloomberg
Engineers work on the graphite super structures of the science module section of the James Webb Space Telescope at Alliant Techsystems Inc.'s (ATK) Space Components Division in Magna, Utah.
Unemployment Claims Lowest Since November 2007
An unexpected decline in applications for jobless benefits last week indicates companies remain optimistic the economy will persevere after cooling in the second quarter. The average number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the last four weeks dropped to the lowest...
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Photograph by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
People looking for work stand in line during a job fair at the Miami Dolphins Sun Life stadium on May 2, 2013 in Florida.
Fed Holding Benchmark Rate Near Zero Until 2016: Analysts
The Federal Reserve will hold its benchmark interest rate near zero, where it has been since December 2008, until early 2016 even as the jobless rate falls. That’s the conclusion of economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York....
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Photograph by Nicholas Roberts/AFP via Getty Images
This September 15, 2008 file photo shows the sign for Lehman Brothers headquarters in New York.
Dodd-Frank’s Missing Link
Many critics of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul will say that the bill’s biggest shortcoming is its failure to reduce the size of the largest banks — the ones that are “Too Big To Fail.” Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo,...
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Photograph by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
A worker is viewed through protective sheeting on the Brooklyn Bridge on April 30, 2013 in New York City.
Zero-Interest Fed: How Long?
The Labor Department said today that the economy added 165,000 jobs in April. With this kind of moderate-but-not-stellar growth in payrolls, is the Federal Reserve on track to meet its own forecast for its first interest-rate increase? A simple calculation...
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Contributors
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Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
