The White House (via OMB) strongly protests Congressional efforts within the FY 2027 NDAA to prohibit the purchase of warships from foreign shipyards. The Administration argues that these restrictions undermine national security by limiting flexibility and hindering its strategy of leveraging allied yards, such as in the 'Finland model,' to drive investment into U.S. shipbuilding capacity. This signals a significant policy shift toward integrating international partners into advanced naval construction, suggesting the Pentagon is prepared to bypass traditional domestic build requirements for future combat vessels.
Remarks by Janet L. Yellen at “The Powell years at the Fed: A retrospective”
English Summary
At a retrospective on Jay Powell’s tenure as Fed Chair, Janet Yellen argued that Powell’s leadership was exceptionally successful, particularly in navigating the 2021-2022 inflation episode. Key to this success was a consistent approach of ‘looking through’ supply-driven inflation, recognizing that aggressive monetary policy responses would have resulted in unacceptable unemployment costs. Yellen emphasized the importance of maintaining anchored inflation expectations and cautioned against prematurely abandoning this strategy, even when demand factors were involved. Furthermore, she highlighted Powell’s proactive approach to financial stability, exemplified by his swift interventions during the 2020 liquidity crisis and the SVB collapse, stressing the need for a supervisory culture focused on preemptive risk management.
中文摘要
在對傑伊·鮑爾就任聯準會主席期間的反思性回顧中,珍妮特·葉倫認為鮑爾的領導力在許多方面都非常成功,尤其是在有效應對 2021 年至 2022 年的通貨膨脹問題方面。 這一成功的主要因素是對供應端推動的通貨膨脹採取的一貫‘視而不見’策略,承認如果採取過於激進的貨幣政策,將會導致不可接受的失業成本。 葉倫強調了維持通貨膨脹預期穩固的重要性,並警告不要過早放棄這一策略,即使需求因素也存在。 此外,她還強調了鮑爾在維護金融穩定方面的積極做法,例如他對 2020 年流動性危機和 SVB 崩潰的迅速干預,並強調了以預防性風險管理為重點的監管文化的需求。
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