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What else can they do? Watch people's portfolios burn down tot he ground? Will that make the situation better?

mertd 7y ago
Fix the outbreak then fix the financial system. The first one isn't the Fed's job.
wycy 7y ago
If the Fed had done nothing at all, it's conceivable that the markets would still be in exactly the same shape they are now (or even possibly better), except we'd still have those tools at our disposal. To an extent, that the Fed took such drastic action probably helped to spook investors even more, since (1) now those tools are gone, (2) it implied that the Fed is panicked and doesn't know what to do, (3) it implied that the Fed thinks the market will sink dramatically. As to what I think they should do: address the needs of the people who will be hardest hit. Interest-free moratorium on mortgages, rents, debts, and/or full FMLA. This will actually help with the underlying virus problem more quickly, and consequently should help fix the underlying market problem (lack of demand) more quickly.
enraged_camel 7y ago
Sometimes the right thing to do is to do nothing.
fuzzfactor 7y ago
That may be the least of your worries. Those without portfolios will have been totally devastated much earlier and might become incentivized to burn all kinds of other things to the ground.
TrueDuality 7y ago
Funding and effective virus response and admitting the severity of the problem would be a start. Our country needs to be seen taking this seriously from the top which it most certainly isn't. I don't think there are any measures that will prevent this drop right now though. Supply and demand are both heavily impacted. We should be looking further down the line to the financial consequences we can prevent. Layoffs have already started, part time workers are making significantly less, and imports aren't as stable. This is going to have serious knock on effects preventing a quick recovery once the pandemic is under control.

Fix the outbreak then fix the financial system. The first one isn't the Fed's job.

wycy 7y ago

If the Fed had done nothing at all, it's conceivable that the markets would still be in exactly the same shape they are now (or even possibly better), except we'd still have those tools at our disposal. To an extent, that the Fed took such drastic action probably helped to spook investors even more, since (1) now those tools are gone, (2) it implied that the Fed is panicked and doesn't know what to do, (3) it implied that the Fed thinks the market will sink dramatically. As to what I think they should do: address the needs of the people who will be hardest hit. Interest-free moratorium on mortgages, rents, debts, and/or full FMLA. This will actually help with the underlying virus problem more quickly, and consequently should help fix the underlying market problem (lack of demand) more quickly.

enraged_camel 7y ago

Sometimes the right thing to do is to do nothing.

fuzzfactor 7y ago

That may be the least of your worries. Those without portfolios will have been totally devastated much earlier and might become incentivized to burn all kinds of other things to the ground.

TrueDuality 7y ago

Funding and effective virus response and admitting the severity of the problem would be a start. Our country needs to be seen taking this seriously from the top which it most certainly isn't. I don't think there are any measures that will prevent this drop right now though. Supply and demand are both heavily impacted. We should be looking further down the line to the financial consequences we can prevent. Layoffs have already started, part time workers are making significantly less, and imports aren't as stable. This is going to have serious knock on effects preventing a quick recovery once the pandemic is under control.