Re:RIP Good Times (2008)
by cyberlurker on Thursday May 19, 2022 @06:47PM
(#31441160)
I think the hesitation was there was a minor economic slowdown around that time and inflation was still flat, so it is unclear raising rates would have been the right call.
Its easy to see there is a problem now, but I don't believe anyone knows what amount was caused by the pandemic. Despite gripes everywhere, I actually think Fed policy has been very reasonable given the circumstances. If not for the pandemic, steady rate hikes were already happening and set to continue.
Re:RIP Good Times (2008)
by BryanBeshore on Thursday May 19, 2022 @05:54PM
(#31440648)
I agree with this. Basically the fed 'rescued' the system in 2008 by injecting capital into the system.
However, this 'rescue' became the norm and they decided to continue easy money policy for the next 14-years. Now, here we are! This has been a concern for a long time now.
Re:RIP Good Times (2008)
by cyberlurker on Thursday May 19, 2022 @06:48PM
(#31441166)
Rates were being raised before the pandemic. Don't you remember all the complaining by the President?
What is fundamentally concerning about a central bank injecting capital into the system? If anything, you could say the same thing about fiat currency and fractional reserve banking as a whole. Money comes from nowhere!
While I think we're headed for a whole new kind of disaster (albeit one I can't predict—unlike 2008, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with financing of housing, but I can't see how these prices are sustainable), I'm not sure it'll be 2008-level doom. The frustration, I think, comes from a real sense of the toll of inflation coupled with annoyance, sometimes unarticulated, that we could have put the breaks on by raising interest rates more aggressively long ago, circa 2015-2016, when the stock market started going crazy.