Monday, October 20, 2008

 

The Recession Hits the NY Fed

I'm glad to see our quasi-governmental agencies lead the way in belt-tightening. Matt Machaj alerts us to this press release from the NY Fed:

October 16, 2008

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will cease publication of its weekly Statement of Condition with the October 30, 2008 release. The information will continue to be available on the Board of Governors’ Statistical Release H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances, Table 5 Statement of Condition of Each Federal Reserve Bank.

The H.4.1 is released each Thursday, generally at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Contact:
Public Affairs
(212) 720-6130
(646) 720-6130
general.info@ny.frb.org


Some readers may remember a similar episode back in March 2006 when the Fed stopped releasing the M3 monetary aggregate, explaining that:

M3 does not appear to convey any additional information about economic activity that is not already embodied in M2 and has not played a role in the monetary policy process for many years. Consequently, the Board judged that the costs of collecting the underlying data and publishing M3 outweigh the benefits.


In tough times like these, I'm glad to see at least some officials keep a sharp eye on costs. You know, it occurs to me that the whole election process burns a lot of money too. What with the bailout, maybe we should skip it this cycle, and reevaluate in 2012?



Comments:
Hey, I like that "skipping the election" idea! However, getting enough to agree as to what to do to fill the office would be a problem. To that end, I have two proposals:

1) Leave the office empty. Send everyone in Washington DC home.

2) Since that is unpalatable to most people, find a nice "neutral" person to fill the office. Someone not currently running, but with credibility. I think Ron Paul might fit the bill, don't you?
 
Sounds like a plan to me.
 
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