Here’s a list of all the things the Federal Reserve has done to try and prop up the failing economy over the past six weeks. It’s mostly just them creating their fake currency on computers and buying shit with it.
CNBC:
March 3 — An emergency 0.5 percentage point interest rate cut.
March 15 — Another 1 percentage point rate cut, taking the Fed’s benchmark for short-term lending down to near zero.
March 15 — At the same time as the second rate cut, the Fed lowered the rate for banks to borrow at the discount window by 1.5 percentage points and cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks to zero.
March 17 — In the first of a slew of measures aimed at keeping credit flowing through the financial system, the Fed said it would start buying commercial paper, or the short-term unsecured debt that businesses rely on for operational cash.
March 18 — Another facility providing credit to keep money markets functioning properly.
March 19 — A new operation focused on currency swaps aimed at other institutions in need of dollar-denominated assets.
March 20 — An operation headed by the Boston Fed to buy municipal debt.
March 23 — An expansion of the Fed’s originally announced asset purchases, which were supposed to max out at $700 billion but now are unlimited depending on the need to support markets and the economy. The purchases already have expanded the Fed’s holdings on its balance sheet by more than $2 trillion.
March 23 — In addition to the next leg of quantitative easing, the Fed also announced a $300 billion credit program for businesses and consumers. The initiatives include two credit facilities for large employers, an expanded Term Asset-Banked Loan Facility for businesses and consumers through the Small Business Administration, and an expanded money market facility that includes municipal debt and certificates of deposits.
April 6 — An announcement that the Fed will provide support to the Treasury’s Payment Protection Program aimed at incentivizing businesses not to lay off employees during the coronavirus-induced shutdown.
April 8 — A modification for the asset restriction it has placed on scandal-plagued Wells Fargo to allow the third-biggest U.S. bank to participate in the business lending programs.
April 9 — The coup de grace, a $2.3 trillion lending program that will extend credit to banks that issue PPP loans, purchase up to $600 billion in loans issued through the Main Street program to medium-sized firms. The moves also involve secondary corporate credit facilities that will allow the Fed to buy corporate bonds from “fallen angels” that have slid into downgrades, and a $500 billion program to buy bonds from state and municipal governments.
All told this is something like $6 trillion in programs designed to buy up debt and assets. But don’t worry, they won’t stop there. Many more trillions of dollars will be created out of thin air in their attempt to prevent the markets from imploding.
I believe that this entire initiative by the Fed is doomed to fail. It is very likely as this process plays out that we will see a short term deflation followed by a massive hyperinflation of the currency. Look for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the price of gold to be at a 1 to 1 ratio as the Fed continues with its insane money printing operations.
