Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Year in Review
By Emily Burner
1787 Society Board Member
It’s been an honor to serve on the board of the 1787 Society, and a privilege to watch it grow like it has. When I mention the Society to people, they actually know what I’m talking about and have at least heard of it if not visited the monthly meetings. As the year comes to a close, I reflect on what I’ve learned.
Oklahoma has great leadership, and I’m so thankful many public servants have been able to speak at our monthly meetings. Each leader has a story, and we can learn a lot.
From Attorney General Scott Pruitt, we learned what the future of the Healthcare Law may be and how it looks to play out in the courts. Right now, it’s in the hands of the states. From General Rita Aragon we learned what our veterans face when they return home. How can we serve them? What can we do to take care of those who put their lives on the line for our freedoms? We learned about how we can impact the future, and how it starts with the family (Congressman Lankford).
There are so many more pearls of wisdom we received from leaders this year. Now, as we look forward to what the future holds for the 1787 Society, we look back on our success. I’m excited for the New Year and all the possibilities for the Society! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, everyone!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Have Central Banks Found an Answer to the Global Financial Crisis?
By Brandon McWaters
OCPA Intern
The same country that introduced the modern system of banking is now in the throes of a potential financial meltdown. Italy is currently faced with paying record interest rates on its growing national debt. Italy has been a member of the eurozone since the union's inception and claims that it will not have to leave due to recent economic setbacks. The EU is putting on a brave face and still holds that the euro will make it through this crisis and will not have to be dissolved.
While there are many reasons to be skeptical about this claim, recent moves by the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the central banks of Canada, Britain, Japan, and Switzerland led to a deal Wednesday, that made U.S. dollars cheaper in order to give cash-strapped banks an affordable outlet for taking on loanable funds. The rationale behind this move is simple: European banks were finding it difficult to make dollar loans and had switched to loans based on the euro which depressed its value and restricted how much could be loaned out by European banks.
The move brought about praise by the international market as stocks skyrocketed yesterday in response with the lowest gain reported by the UK’s FTSE 100 at an astonishing 3%. Richard Hunter at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers said that if banks take advantage of the cheaper funding, "a great deal of tension will be removed from the system, both in terms of liquidity and market sentiment.”
In my earlier post, I talked about the potential effect that a eurozone meltdown could have on the U.S. economy and why Americans should actively watch the situation across the pond. With this move by the central banks of the world, and the resulting 400+ point increase by the Dow Jones Wednesday, it is clear that the two economies are tied together. While the move by the Fed to cheapen the dollar may seem to be an act of weakening our global position in the financial market, it actually is a positive move both for our dollar and our economy. Currently the U.S. dollar is the preferred currency for international transactions and by making it more affordable to European banks to buy and then loan out, we increase the attractiveness of our U.S. Treasury Bonds to be bought by foreign investors and we keep the dollar as the preferred currency rather than losing out to the now over-rated euro. What this means for us is that we keep our position as the world’s leading economy, and hopefully leave recessionary times in the past.
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