General World News

America’s central bank helped spark the US housing boom. Now it fears it created a monster.

Carpenters work on building new townhomes

Summary List Placement

The Federal Reserve did what it had to do.

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic — and its intense economic fallout — prompted the central bank to use its most powerful tool and set its benchmark interest rate near zero. Looking to further aid financial markets, the Fed also began purchasing $120 billion in assets per month, including $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities.

This kind of outsized support wasn’t anything new. The Fed had previously combated recessions with rate cuts and emergency asset purchases. But where the housing market was ground zero during the Great Recession, the details ⇒

BusinessMediaguide.Com portal received this content from this noted web source: BusinessInsider.Com