scott wrote on January 12, 2009 12:55 PM: Usury.

Joe Bama wrote on January 12, 2009 11:49 AM: Think he will advise them to double down?

Matt wrote on January 12, 2009 11:08 AM: "isn't that special"(to quote the Church Lady from SNL) I will give you a "economic snapshot" of Las Vegas... it sucks! One of the reasons for that is that there is an unfinished casino project in the center on the Las Vegas Strip.

One would think that Mr. Smith's time would be better spent explaning to Las Vegas residents and adjacent business owners how he is going to fix the massive eyesore that is at the center of the Las Vegas Strip which has place two black eyes over Las Vegas. Taking advise from a person that has spent a half a billion dollars on an incomplete project that makes Vegas look bad is not,in my view, a good idea and hurts the creditibility of the Federal Reserve bank of San Francisco

Also, rewarding a person with a post of this magnitude after the Echalon Place debacle is short-sighted. Boyd Gaming and Mr. Smith should find the resources necessary to funish the project immediately to restore the integrity and continuity of our most precious asset---the Las Vegas Strip!

corrupt wrote on January 12, 2009 08:43 AM: Now they may get their money for the mob museum

Free Nevada wrote on January 12, 2009 08:33 AM: The Fed got caught between a rock and a hard place. It was common knowledge that if they didn't lower interest rates, then the economy would not have recovered from the tech-bubble stock market crashes in April and October of 2000 and the one quarter economic timeout after the horrific 9/11 attack. That "common knowledge" would have translated into a 1929-like stock market crash, so the Fed did start lowering rates to historic (45 year lows). But there is a 30-48 month lead-time between them pushing the button and this huge economy responding. They found they had to push the button many times over many years...egged on by Bush's agenda to help get more people into their homes they OWN which would presumably make the economy behave more predictable/manageable, help children of the current baby boom, etc.. As 9/11 economic concerns faded, the Fed feared inflation and began to hike rates again. But the rate hikes did not collapse the economy --they certainly took a lot of heat from Cramer and others for not re-lowering them as the economy was collapsing. No, it was the housing market that collapsed the economy, and the Fed has very little to do with that. Fmr. Fed Chairman Greenspan has acknowledged that he was blindsided by the housing mess, but that doesn't mean he could have done anything about it, other than to have allowed the markets to crash 1929 style back in 2002 by not having lowered interest rates (which created the environment for the self-serving investment banks, mortgage companies and real estate people to defraud the public in.)

Jekyll Island wrote on January 12, 2009 08:11 AM: The FED is corrupt and should be abolished.

michael wrote on January 12, 2009 03:41 AM: the federal reserve is a banking corporation,. incorporated dec 22 1913
( google federal reserve)
it is as federal as federal express,.
a gaming(gambling) executive is a perfect choice,.as the federal reserve is also a shakedown operation,.