William (Bill) Bergman has four decades of financial market experience in private sector, public sector, and educational roles. He served as an economist and financial markets policy analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from 1990 to 2004. He delivers a daily newsletter on government finance at GovMoneyNews, and he is co-authoring a book (with Larry Feltes) to be titled “Three Keys: Unlocking Prosperity with Ethics, Economics and Excellence.”
William Bergman
By this expert
Accounting for Ourselves: What Fedwire Tells Us About Fed Losses, Cost Recovery, and Risk
Without transparent accounting practices and proper risk management, the Federal Reserve’s current financial losses—unprecedented in scale—and the questionable accounting practices it uses to downplay their impact threaten public trust, economic stability, and the integrity of fiscal policy.
Is Fedwire Still a Subsidy That Fully Recovers Its Cost?
The Federal Reserve is experiencing something new in its history: sustained and sizable operating losses. These losses—currently running at more than $100 billion a year on an annualized basis—stem largely from the sharp rise in short-term interest rates, which has increased the interest the Fed pays on bank reserves while the income from its long-term securities portfolio remains comparatively low.
