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Curated by Project Syndicate

The Fed's Next Head

15 commentaries

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's aggressive response to the 2008 financial crisis has been both praised and scorned. As Bernanke's term nears its end and the race to succeed him heats up, Project Syndicate's experts consider the future of Fed policy – and what it means for the global recovery.

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  1. Fischer, the Fed, and US Growth

    Fischer, the Fed, and US Growth

    Dec 23, 2013 Jeffrey Frankel endorses the recent selection of Stanley Fischer to succeed Janet Yellin as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board.

  2. The Fed’s Surprise and Yellen’s Challenge
    pa217c.jpg Paul Lachine

    The Fed’s Surprise and Yellen’s Challenge

    Oct 10, 2013 Mohamed A. El-Erian on the Federal Reserve's declining effectiveness.

  3. Whose Central Bank?
    pa4129c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Whose Central Bank?

    Aug 31, 2013 J. Bradford DeLong thinks the Fed should be a steward of the economy, not of big banks.

  4. US Interest Rates Will Continue to Rise
    ve1665c.jpg Chris Van Es

    US Interest Rates Will Continue to Rise

    Aug 28, 2013 Martin Feldstein on the sources of upward pressure on us interest rates.

  5. The Greenspan Temptation
    pa3989c.jpg Paul Lachine

    The Greenspan Temptation

    Aug 27, 2013 Simon Johnson on the power of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

  6. The Changing of the Monetary Guard
    dr4573c.jpg Dean Rohrer

    The Changing of the Monetary Guard

    Aug 5, 2013 Joseph E. Stiglitz endorses Janet Yellen to head the US Federal Reserve.

  1. rajan82_BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIPOOLAFP via Getty Images_jeromepowell Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

    The Fed’s Role in the Bank Failures

    Raghuram G. Rajan & Viral V. Acharya

    There are four reasons to worry that the latest banking crisis could be systemic. For many years, periodic bouts of quantitative easing have expanded bank balance sheets and stuffed them with more uninsured deposits, making the banks increasingly vulnerable to changes in monetary policy and financial conditions.

    show how the US central bank's liquidity policies created the conditions for runs on uninsured deposits.
  2. velasco135_Nancy LaneMediaNews GroupBoston Herald via Getty Images_bank run Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

    Policymakers Keep Solving the Wrong Banking Problem

    Andrés Velasco

    When a bank fails, the first response by policymakers and the public is to blame risk-loving speculators, greedy investors, or regulators asleep at the wheel. But quenching our thirst for moral adjudication is a poor basis for policy, because the truth is both simpler and more troubling.

    argues that recent market turmoil has revealed that the sector’s main vulnerability is unavoidable.
  3. ito25_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_yellen Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    An Insolvency Iceberg?

    Takatoshi Ito considers the risk that other banks will experience liquidity problems as interest rates continue to rise.
  4. skidelsky185_Wiktor SzymanowiczAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_jeremyhunt Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    Can Governments Still Steer the Economy?

    Robert Skidelsky explains why international finance and geopolitics make it harder to influence major performance indicators.
  5. sinn109_ DANIEL ROLANDAFP via Getty Images_financial crisis DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images

    Accounting for Casino Capitalism

    Hans-Werner Sinn draws parallels between recent bank collapses and the late-nineteenth-century “founders’ crash.”
  6. zadek25_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_creditsuisseUBS Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    Who Should Be Bailed Out Next?

    Simon Zadek urges rich-country governments to aid debt-distressed poor countries as urgently as they have their failing banks.
  7. callegari1_Getty Images_crowd population Getty Images

    The Population Boon

    Beniamino Callegari & Per Espen Stoknes correct popular myths about the threat of demographic growth to sustainable development.
  8. songwe8_NIPAH DENNISAFP via Getty Images_ghana NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

    Where Is the Global South’s Rescue Brigade?

    Vera Songwe decries the unequal responses to liquidity crises in Silicon Valley compared to the developing world.
  9. slaughter96_melitasGetty Images_cooperative melitas/Getty Images

    Beyond Industrial Policy

    Anne-Marie Slaughter & Elizabeth Garlow make the case for an economic strategy that prioritizes shared prosperity over competition.

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