The Fed did the Europeans a favor.
Joseph Gagnon
former Fed official
"The central banks of the wealthiest countries,
trying to prevent a debt crisis in Europe
from exploding into a global panic,
swept in ...by making it easier
...to borrow American dollars.
With what money from where?
Central banks will make it cheaper
...to borrow [US] dollars,
the dominant currency of trade.
Who is qualified by what metric
to borrow how much from whom?
To get the dollars to lend,
central banks go to the Fed and exchange their currency
for dollars under a special swap program.
What could happen
if a central bank prints currency for collateral
for printed money in return
and then do it again and again
untill gasoline is $10 per gallon?
...The coordinated action was a demonstration
of how interconnected the world financial system is,
and that the debt loads of countries like Italy and Greece
are everyone else's problem, too.
AP
Did some economic and political leaders
bail themselves and their compatriots out of their own mistakes,
by pledging trillions of debt and newly created money,
knowing the consequences would be handed down
to many who may be unaware
including the unborn of following generations?
