The Federal Reserve is one of those institutions that everyone has heard of but no one really cares to talk about. Sure, you’ll have the odd conversation with your friend about rising interest rates and how that means something, probably, but are you really passionate about it? Do you get the same rush to open […]
Tag: Federal Reserve
The Rise of Pseudo-Progressivism: What do the Federal Reserve and GameStop Have in Common?
Over the past decade, inequality has been recognized as one of the most important political problems of the 21st Century. In 2013, President Obama labeled the growing gap between the rich and poor “the defining challenge of our time.” The next year, French economist Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century—an explanation of how the […]
The Outsider’s Insider
When most Berkeley students think about Evans Hall — the dull, rectangular building with the windowless classrooms that obscure any view of the Campanile — the term visual blight is likely the first thought that comes to mind. For Economics Professor Raymond Hawkins, however, Evans brings to mind a different memory: it was the location […]
The Powell Puzzle
There are two ways the story of Jerome Powell’s time as chair of the Federal Reserve is commonly told. One narrative goes like this: Powell is the most progressive Federal Reserve Chair since the New Deal, a staunch advocate of worker power, and the person who stopped financial calamity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The other […]