The Federal Reserve has a mission which can be very simply understood [1]
The reasons for specific actions can be read and understood by the majority of people on HN, assuming they are willing to devote the time required to read through the research which guides the Fed's actions.
Stating that it is the Fed's policies which have taken $50T of wealth from the bottom 90% is, in my not so humble opinion, an extremely naive and shallow assessment of the situation.
There is very little debate that the Quantitative Easing and ZIRP of the Fed and other central banks generally hurt savers, it also likely prevented significant harm to any equity holdings they had, which would account for the vast majority of the volatility in their portfolios.
To place the blame at the feet of an institution which is controlled by congress is silly. The tax policies of the last fifty years get a pass? The protectionism that helped usher in the demise of the american steel industry? The excessive power of unions to push wages well above the global market, without the support of politicians to penalize offshoring of jobs? The general trends of automation of repetitive, moderately skilled work? The explosion in software which has a marginal cost of production approaching zero? The willingness of the populace to ignore where and who made their trinkets, so long as they can buy a dozen for the cost of one locally made? The willingness of state and local politicians to hand out tax incentives to mega-corps at the expense of small businesses? The shift toward knowledge work, which study after study has shown has significant network effects, pushing people into more densely populated cities, harming small towns and the tax bases of rural communities? I could go on. None of these things matter? It's all the Federal Reserve?
The reasons for specific actions can be read and understood by the majority of people on HN, assuming they are willing to devote the time required to read through the research which guides the Fed's actions.
Stating that it is the Fed's policies which have taken $50T of wealth from the bottom 90% is, in my not so humble opinion, an extremely naive and shallow assessment of the situation.
There is very little debate that the Quantitative Easing and ZIRP of the Fed and other central banks generally hurt savers, it also likely prevented significant harm to any equity holdings they had, which would account for the vast majority of the volatility in their portfolios.
To place the blame at the feet of an institution which is controlled by congress is silly. The tax policies of the last fifty years get a pass? The protectionism that helped usher in the demise of the american steel industry? The excessive power of unions to push wages well above the global market, without the support of politicians to penalize offshoring of jobs? The general trends of automation of repetitive, moderately skilled work? The explosion in software which has a marginal cost of production approaching zero? The willingness of the populace to ignore where and who made their trinkets, so long as they can buy a dozen for the cost of one locally made? The willingness of state and local politicians to hand out tax incentives to mega-corps at the expense of small businesses? The shift toward knowledge work, which study after study has shown has significant network effects, pushing people into more densely populated cities, harming small towns and the tax bases of rural communities? I could go on. None of these things matter? It's all the Federal Reserve?
[1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/what-economic-goals-does....