Hi, my name is Ben. I am in charge of the economy, more or less. To my left, a man far less important. To my right, Greenspan. Last night, the three of us held a secret meeting in our hidden Fed safehouse. There we drank, ate, told some amazing jokes and then decided to cut the Fed Discount Rate 50 basis points.
The rate cut was approximately this big. The technical issue as to what the Discount Rate actually means is largely irrelevant -- the takeaway for you is that we cut a Rate 50 bips. Does that make you happy?
I knew it would make you happy. It made me happy too, that's why I did it. Some have concerns that this is a ham-handed intervention into a free market and worse, a temporary salve, that will give people a delusional sense of comfort. These are really good points, so let's switch to a profile shot.
As I mentioned above, I am in charge of the economy, more or less. And the economy, more or less, is the stock market. As you can see there is nothing temporary about today's bump in the DJIA. Also did I mention that the Rate cut was this big?
