Helicopter Ben just pushed the Big Candy-like Red Button, kids.
The Federal Reserve launched another aggressive stimulus program on Thursday, saying it will buy $40 billion of mortgage debt per month and continue to purchase assets until the outlook for jobs improves substantially.
In a significant shift in the direction of U.S. monetary policy, the Fed has tied its unconventional bond buying directly to economic conditions, a move that is likely to be controversial among central bank critics.
“If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the committee will continue its purchase of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability,” the Fed said in a statement.
In an additional step that reflects just how concerned Fed officials have become about the health of the economy, policymakers said they would not likely raise rates from current rock-bottom lows until at least mid-2015. Previously, it had set such guidance at late 2014.
Not only is it QE3, but it’s got no set expiration date, apparently. You know, exactly the kind of sustained growth program that everyone’s been screaming for now for a couple of years. That sound you hear is Austrian-school economists exploding like microwaved giant jawbreakers, not to mention the sound of Mitt Romney’s campaign guys going “Umm…we argued that something had to be done, but we refused to provide specifics…now what?”
I gotta fiver says House Republicans will try to impeach somebody before the week’s out.