Börsennotizbuch

Im Economist’s View:

Robert Shiller says changes in the institutional structure of the financial system such as the breakdown of the traditional lines between what is and what isn’t a bank require the Fed to reevaluate and expand its role in managing the economy. I agree, and I also agree that Ben Bernanke is well-suited to the role of leading the Fed through this change:

The Fed Gets a New Job Description, by Robert Shiller, Economic Scene, NY Times: The plan of Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to overhaul the financial system includes a crucial proposal: it would officially transform the Federal Reserve into a “market stability regulator” rather than merely a banker’s bank.

This aspect of the Treasury plan is a natural step in a historical trend. The Fed is no longer just a regulatory agency presiding over a narrow group of businesses called banks. Rather, its mission increasingly is to maintain macro confidence — confidence that the entire financial system is functioning well as part of the whole economy.

In contrast, traditional securities regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission have as their primary mission the maintenance of micro confidence — confidence that individual firms are disclosing the truth about their own internal operations and are not manipulating information. But as the current financial crisis attests, it is macro confidence that requires the most subtle attention. …