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Running out of options, Fed prepares to jolt economy
The Upshot on Yahoo ^ | 11/1/10 | Zachary Roth

Posted on 11/01/2010 12:31:53 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

Much of the media's attention is focused on Election Day. But another event Tuesday could have a far greater effect on the one overriding issue that looks likely to lead to major Republican gains.

The Federal Reserve, at a meeting of policymakers Tuesday and Wednesday, is poised to take dramatic steps to jolt the economy awake. With Ben Bernanke and Company running out of conventional tools to address the slump, the moment is one of the most crucial since the downturn began nearly three years ago.

The Fed has already pumped money into the economy by buying over $1.7 trillion worth of Treasury bonds, but this week it's expected to announce an additional $500 billion purchase, ..

Some analysts see pitfalls to the move. "The greatest risk for the Fed in taking this action is that it could extend the economy's funk by giving a sense that either no one is in charge or that the people who are in charge can't get it right," David Shulman of the UCLA Anderson Forecast told the Washington Post. "The whole psychology of that could leak back into the economy."

And if the Fed overshoots, it could produce the same kind of bubbles that helped get us in the fix we're in now.

But the downsides of not acting may be greater. Unemployment is currently stuck around 9 percent, and the economy isn't growing fast enough to raise it. Meanwhile, inflation, at around 1 percent, isn't high enough to encourage consumers to spend money.

In fact, some think the Fed isn't thinking big enough. Larry Meyer, a former Fed governor now with Macroeconomic Advisers, recently argued it will take more than $5 trillion worth of bond purchases to jolt the economy. Fed leaders have said that's too risky.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: economy; federalreserve; jolt; options
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In the emergency room, this is the part where they crank up the paddles and zap the patient .. we're not quite flat-lined .. yet.

Gimme 50, Ben! million , that is. I can take it.

1 posted on 11/01/2010 12:31:54 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

The McDonald's $1 menu is gone.

2 posted on 11/01/2010 12:34:50 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: NormsRevenge

The Fed has to go. I hope the turning political tides sweep them out to sea. Jefferson was right.


3 posted on 11/01/2010 12:34:59 PM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Hmmmmm....can’t....figure out.....what.....could....help expand the economy.

Must be my shoddy education in math, physics, and EE.

Guess I should concede control of the economy to Harvard flunkouts.

Yeah, that’s the ticket.


4 posted on 11/01/2010 12:35:16 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: NormsRevenge

Fed prepares to kick the crap out of the economy


5 posted on 11/01/2010 12:35:58 PM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: NormsRevenge

This won’t work...again.

Throwing cash at this just cheapens the cash. Doesn’t create anything.

Gee...if only we still had a big manufacturing base to actually create some real wealth....


6 posted on 11/01/2010 12:36:44 PM PDT by Adder (Note to self: 11-2-10 Take out the Trash!!!)
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To: NormsRevenge

They haven’t learned that Keynesianism is idiocy??


7 posted on 11/01/2010 12:37:35 PM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: NormsRevenge
Cutting regulation on business would kick start this economy to a huge degree.
Start with scrapping the health care bill, and go from there.
8 posted on 11/01/2010 12:37:42 PM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Vote like Obama is on the ballot)
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To: NormsRevenge

It will give the big banks a chance to unload garbage paper.


9 posted on 11/01/2010 12:37:57 PM PDT by Hans
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To: NormsRevenge

A better solution would a be a bonfire of a lot of the FedZilla and StateZillas regulatory and legal codes, can’t count them anymore, you gotta weigh them.


10 posted on 11/01/2010 12:38:04 PM PDT by swarthyguy (KIDS! Deficit, Debt,Taxes!Pfft Lookit the bright side of our legacy -Ummrika is almost SmokFrei!)
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To: NormsRevenge

Good grief. They pass legislation that comes down hard on Wall Street, business, investment... and then seek to overcome that by pumping in trillions.

Just pass decent legislation that backs off these insane policies and watch our economy thrive.


11 posted on 11/01/2010 12:38:04 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (BHO fans said I was a hater, dismissed my thoughts. Sure glad our side isn't like that.)
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To: Adder

That would take investment

But we’re punishing investment these days

The Fed needs to be abolished.


12 posted on 11/01/2010 12:39:16 PM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: NormsRevenge
The Fed has already pumped money into the economy by buying over $1.7 trillion worth of Treasury bonds

The Fed owns less than $835 billion in Treasury bonds.

13 posted on 11/01/2010 12:39:20 PM PDT by Toddsterpatriot (Math is hard. Harder if you're stupid.)
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To: DoughtyOne

Wait until the VAT tax gets its legs.. lol

Estimates are made of anywhere from 5 to 15 trillion to turn things around..

madness... pure simple madness

Gubamint needs to shrink its roles not grow them..


14 posted on 11/01/2010 12:40:22 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Obama: Epic Fail or Bust!!!)
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To: NormsRevenge
I believe that the Fed will be making massive purchases - but those purchases will be of Mortgage-backed securities instead of Treasury securities.

The money printed to purchase those MBS will end up in the Excess Reserve accounts of the major banks instead of circulating in our economy - just like QE 1.

Any interest from those still paying on any of the MBS will be used to purchase Treasury securities - but this will not increase the money supply, since it's just cycling money in the back door and out the front door.

In short, the Fed will be purchasing between $500 billion and $1 trillion of securities - but those purchases will not increase the money supply of our economy.

Instead, the purchases will continue the largest transfer of wealth ever perpetrated upon mankind.

I've written more about it for those that care to read it:

The Fed's Ties to Real Estate Fraud

The Fed's actions will not increase the nation's circulating money supply one iota, even though the markets will interpret it that way.

15 posted on 11/01/2010 12:43:30 PM PDT by politicket (1 1/2 million attended Obama's coronation - only 14 missed work!)
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To: NormsRevenge
I believe that the Fed will be making massive purchases - but those purchases will be of Mortgage-backed securities instead of Treasury securities.

The money printed to purchase those MBS will end up in the Excess Reserve accounts of the major banks instead of circulating in our economy - just like QE 1.

Any interest from those still paying on any of the MBS will be used to purchase Treasury securities - but this will not increase the money supply, since it's just cycling money in the back door and out the front door.

In short, the Fed will be purchasing between $500 billion and $1 trillion of securities - but those purchases will not increase the money supply of our economy.

Instead, the purchases will continue the largest transfer of wealth ever perpetrated upon mankind.

I've written more about it for those that care to read it:

The Fed's Ties to Real Estate Fraud

The Fed's actions will not increase the nation's circulating money supply one iota, even though the markets will interpret it that way.

16 posted on 11/01/2010 12:43:37 PM PDT by politicket (1 1/2 million attended Obama's coronation - only 14 missed work!)
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To: All

Sorry for the duplicate. I was sure I only hit the post button once.


17 posted on 11/01/2010 12:44:39 PM PDT by politicket (1 1/2 million attended Obama's coronation - only 14 missed work!)
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To: NormsRevenge

So giving the banks free money and paying them to borrow it back isn’t working? Lets do it more!


18 posted on 11/01/2010 12:44:58 PM PDT by Hugin (Remember the first rule of gunfighting...have a gun..-- Col. Jeff Cooper)
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To: Hugin
So giving the banks free money

Who is doing that? You have a link?

19 posted on 11/01/2010 12:46:55 PM PDT by Toddsterpatriot (Math is hard. Harder if you're stupid.)
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To: Toddsterpatriot

Not now, I’m using my cell phone. It is no secret that the Fed loans to banks for an effective interest rate of zero.


20 posted on 11/01/2010 12:55:19 PM PDT by Hugin (Remember the first rule of gunfighting...have a gun..-- Col. Jeff Cooper)
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