The U.S. Federal Reserve delivered an emergency half-percentage point interest rate cut Tuesday in a bid to protect the longest-ever economic expansion from the spreading coronavirus. From a report: “The coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity,” the Fed said in a statement. “In light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price stability goals, the…
Tag: federal reserve
Is Andrew Yang Wrong About Robots Taking Our Jobs?
U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang “is full of it,” argues Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent, challenging Yang’s contention (in a debate Tuesday) that American jobs were being lost to automation: Following the debate, a “fact check” by the AP claimed that Yang was right and Warren wrong. “Economists mostly blame [manufacturing] job losses on automation and robots, not trade deals,”…
Is America’s Federal Banking System Considering Its Own Digital Cryptocurrency?
America’s lawmakers and Federal Reserve officials “are so concerned about Facebook’s plans to launch a new digital currency,” reports Politico’s financial services reporter, “that they’re contemplating a novel response — having the central bank create a competitor.”
Momentum is building for an idea that was once considered outlandish — a U.S. government-run virtual currency that would replace physical cash, a dramatic move…
Worker Pay is Stagnant — Economists Blame Robots
pgmrdlm writes: American workers are more productive than ever, but their paychecks haven’t kept pace. Researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco have identified a culprit: robots. Economists Sylvain Leduc and Zheng Liu theorize that automation is sapping employees’ bargaining power, making it harder for them to demand higher wages. Companies across a range of industries increasingly have the…
Celo Launches Decentralized Open Source Financial Services Prototype
Forbes notes that other financial transaction platforms hope to benefit from Facebook’s struggles in launching its Libra cryptocurrency — including Celo. The key value proposition of the assets running on top of the [Celo] platform is that they are immune to the wide swings in volatility that have plagued leading crypto assets in recent years. Many are designed to mirror the…
US Lawmakers Consider Ban On Big Tech Companies Launching Cryptocurrencies
PolygamousRanchKid quotes Reuters: A proposal to prevent big technology companies from functioning as financial institutions or issuing digital currencies has been circulated for discussion by the Democratic majority that leads the House Financial Services Committee, according to a copy of the draft legislation seen by Reuters. In a sign of widening scrutiny after Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) proposed Libra digital coin aroused…
Fed Chief Calls For Facebook To Halt Libra Project Until Concerns Addressed
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that Facebook’s plan to build a digital currency called Libra “cannot go forward” until serious concerns are addressed. Reuters reports: “Libra raises many serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability,” Powell said during his semi-annual testimony on monetary policy before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services…