The Fed’s Baffling Response to the Coronavirus by Ellen Brown + Richard Wolff: The Inherent Instability Of Capitalism Is Its Tendency To Have Economic Crises Every Few Years

Image by zemistor via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog, Mar. 11, 2020
March 13, 2020

When the World Health Organization announced on February 24^th that it was time to prepare for a global pandemic, the stock market plummeted. Over the following week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by more than 3,500 points or over 10%. In an attempt to contain the damage, on March 3^rd the Federal Reserve slashed the fed funds rate from 1.5% to 1.0%, in their first emergency rate move and biggest one-time cut since the 2008 financial crisis. But rather than reassuring investors, the move fueled another panic sell-off.