Issue of the Week
Though not precisely an issue for this week so much as for the next several weeks to come, the imminent culmination of the Fed’s QE2 has more than a few people concerned. Just to set the stage, if QE2 was so crucial to the survival of the human species last October when it was proposed, why is it not so after June 30? Do we not want to leap right into a QE3 if for no other reason than to postpone the end of civilization as we know it? Are we to believe that with the Fed’s retirement from actively supporting Treasury bond prices by being a committed buyer at almost any price will Treasury bond prices now come off the rails? These are not trivial questions, or so they seem. (Okay, that’s a little sarcastic for everyday comment, but it is really hard to take the subject all that seriously. Western Civilization as we know it was never going to cease, just because of a little economic misstep.)