Community QE - Robert Hockett on State and Local Government Finance in the Crisis

[James Keenan]

Robert Hockett of Cornell Law School is an expert on the legal structure of money and finance.  He's also a guest columnist for Forbes Magazine's web site.  In two posts last week, he did a close analysis of recent new initiatives on the part of the Federal Reserve with respect to the COVID-19/Trump recession.  He noted that for the first time ever, the Fed has outlined procedures under which it is willing to purchase debt instruments of state and local governments.  He calls this "Community QE" and says it represents a creative improvisation on the Fed's part with respect to the crisis.  He also argues that state governments should mobilize to take advantage of this new flexibility on the Fed's part.

I urge you to read these articles (you'll probably have to re-read them a couple of times) and a memorandum in PDF form that accompanies them.  Links:

Welcome To Community QE - Now Let Us Put It To Use (Forbes, April 9 2020)

Community QE - An April Game Plan for States and Cities (Forbes, April 12 2020)

Community QE: Key Provisions and a 'Game Plan' for Immediate State Action (PDF download)

I found out about the above by following some links from the Law and Political Economy blog.

Thank you very much.

Jim Keenan