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Following chemisttree's recommendation, here's the Bernanke thread:
So in other words, all week Americans read about insignificant details about a politician's personal life on their front pages. Meanwhile, a Bush appointee from the mighty Federal Reserve is in Europe begging other central banks to protect the US from market forces! What does everyone think of that? Isn't the US hampered by too much government?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080311/bs_nm/usa_fed_liquidity_dc...In the latest effort to ease a credit contraction that has disrupted global finance, the Fed, Bank of Canada, Bank of England, European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank announced a series of aggressive measures to boost liquidity. It was the second time in three months that central banks from around the globe had launched coordinated efforts.
Wall Street economists were quick to call the new lending facility a step in the right direction, but what's most needed is time for the de-leveraging of billions of dollars in loans globally.
"What we've seen is really a seizing of the money markets and it will help to alleviate this by injecting much needed cash," said Kathleen Stephansen, director of global economics at Credit Suisse in New York. "It doesn't take away the credit crunch because deleveraging will still have to take place. But this will make it a more orderly process."
Policy-makers are particularly concerned that tightening credit conditions, sparked by the U.S. subprime housing meltdown, will curb the flow of money to the people and businesses that power the global economy.
The Fed expanded its securities lending program, offering up to $200 billion of highly liquid U.S. Treasuries to primary dealers, secured for 28 days, and said it could increase the size of the program if needed. It also significantly expanded the types of securities that can be used as collateral for the loans. In effect, the plan allows banks to exchange unwanted mortgage notes for easy-to-sell government securities.
"Is this going to cure what ails the economy? I would guess everyone realizes the answer to that is going to be 'no.' Is this going to be helpful in addressing the strains in financial markets? For sure, the answer is 'yes'," the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, John Lipsky, told Reuters.
So in other words, all week Americans read about insignificant details about a politician's personal life on their front pages. Meanwhile, a Bush appointee from the mighty Federal Reserve is in Europe begging other central banks to protect the US from market forces! What does everyone think of that? Isn't the US hampered by too much government?
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