Turn Off the Fed Bubble Machine

“The Lawrence Welk Show,” which ran from 1951 to 1982, was known for its schmaltzy “champagne music” and a TV screen full of bubbles to open most shows. The interest-rate-slashing Federal Reserve has been running the bubble machine ever since. Now, with inflation feeling like it’s rolling over as the economy slows, it’s time to shut the machine down.

Since the fall of 2008, with a brief respite in 2019, the real federal-funds rate has been negative, meaning interest rates have been below inflation (and still are) and the Fed has been accommodative. Accommodating what? Well, in the false hope of boosting aggregate demand and fighting deflation, they’ve accommodated bubbles, bubbles everywhere.