“4/11/2008, 1:30pm EST”
America's Bittersweet Self-Destruction: Federal Reserve edition, 4/11/08 →
A bucket-of-cold-water look at the dynamics of the Federal Reserve, encompassing broader history and recent events (with charts, for the visually inclined), from gjohnsit over at DailyKos. A key passage:
Normally central banks only hold the safest, most dependable assets in their vaults. Historically that was gold and silver. In today’s fiat world, it is treasuries. At least it was treasuries, until the Federal Reserve started to bail out Wall Street investment banks by swapping out those safe treasuries with subprime, mortgage-backed securities.
Treasuries were 87% of the Fed’s holdings in August 2007. Now they comprise just 53%. There’s much more, so go on over and give it a read.
Never leave home without it.
