From The Economist of 26 January 2008:
Quote:
There is no doubt that this is a frightening moment. But the narrow economic rationale for the Fed's emergency rate-cut this week was thin. America's weak economy means monetary policy can, and should, be loosened considerably. But the central bankers' next scheduled meeting begins on January 29th. Since lower interest rates take several months to work through the economy, accelerating rate cuts by a few days will not much affect the outcome. Yes, share prices had been falling sharply across the globe, but the slide was orderly and the system had not seized up. The Fed seems to have been spooked, and wanted to stop the markets' fall.
That is a dangerous path for a central bank to tread. Its success will now be identified with short-term movements on Wall Street. Indeed, as the stockmarket shrugged off the latest rate cut, the Fed's authority already looked diminished. As if to prove the point, shares soared only when the insurance regulator appeared. Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman and guardian of America's economy, moved Wall Street less than Eric Dinallo, whom nobody had heard of, saying he would rescue some insurers nobody understood.
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Identified is what a responsible government can (should) do. Intead, a mental midget president would throw more money at a problem created by throwing money at the economy?