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QE is much more than loans that get paid back. The fed's balance sheet actually went up by 4 trillion dollars during the 2008 recovery [1], even though the loan
by gregwebs 6y ago
QE is much more than loans that get paid back. The fed's balance sheet actually went up by 4 trillion dollars during the 2008 recovery [1], even though the loan program was less than 1 trillion. Much of QE finances government debt. But the fed also still holds more than a trillion dollars of mortgage backed securities.
[1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren...
- andrewmutz 6y agoGovernment debt and MBS are loans that are continuously being paid back.
- koheripbal 6y agoYep - and the US government actually MADE money on the MBS it bought. People who are angry seldom take the time to understand how finance works.
- gregwebs 6y agoThat's 1.9 trillion in MBS on the balance sheet now. It seems like you have counted those eggs before they have hatched! If we could really make money on these we would get them off the balance sheet, but that is proving to be impossible to do. I guess you could argue that we're making money, but that's only because we get to print money to buy these for free and de-value everyone else's dollars.
- jessaustin 6y agoIt's not really surprising, that the same dumb accounting mistakes that got all these "2B2F" banks in trouble in the first place, are also made by their ardent fans on HN. GP is the same joker who dismisses people as "angry" and "uneducated" elsewhere ITT, but doesn't actually have any idea what happened. Reading Timmy Geithner's book doesn't help... https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/2008-financial-bailout-809731/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/2008...