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Well, the Fed is currently propping up the market with trillions of purchases, not just of treasuries but even things like corporate bonds.
by snarf21 6y ago
Well, the Fed is currently propping up the market with trillions of purchases, not just of treasuries but even things like corporate bonds.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- whatshisface 6y agoAm I wrong in thinking this is directly handing value from holders of dollars to holders of corporate debt and equity?
- omgwtfbyobbq 6y agoI think that's an accurate statement. The transfer would be the delta between what the Fed buys that debt/equity for and what it sells it for later. At the same time, it could also be accurate to assert that without some organization propping up the economy, short term losses, and possibly long term harm, would greatly exceed whatever the delta ends up being on the Fed's purchases/sales.
- jfengel 6y agoWell, yes and no. Thus far, dollars have not decreased substantially in value, except in the equity market. Consumer prices have been steady for many years[1], with a small (under 2%) annual increase. What's happening instead is that money is funneled almost directly from Federal Reserve accounts into equities markets, making only a brief appearance in the hands of consumers. There, it mostly seems to prevent deflation -- which keeps people buying stuff and avoids massive unemployment (and causing even more deflation). At some point the market will correct, and the outflow will go... somewhere. A lot of that money will simply vanish, leaving us with massive debts owed by the government to the banks and large bond buyers. That will be a whole different kind of crash. [1] https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-pri...