413 private links
Sarcasm aside, the article accurately diagnoses the problems facing the housing market, and ultimately the economy, as a result of current interest rate policies. But particularly given events of the last several years, count this conservative highly skeptical that the “solution” to a problem caused in part by poor Federal Reserve policy can come via yet another policy intervention by Fed officials. //
Given that poor decision-making by the Federal Reserve helped cause the mess the housing market is currently in, what on Earth makes Alpert think that asking the Fed to meddle more will end in anything other than tears? //
The past quarter-century has seen all manner of, as Alpert put it, “creative policies” on the fiscal and monetary fronts. Those policies — ultra-low interest rates, quantitative easing, and massive fiscal stimulus — have in rapid succession brought us a housing crash, a financial crisis, years of economic stagnation, bubbles in nearly every asset class, tens of trillions of dollars in federal debt, and most recently the highest inflation in generations.