Complacency triumphs over catastrophe

The New York Times provides this report on the Fed and its plans:

And at the end of June, the Federal Reserve finished its work and rested.

The nation’s central bank said Wednesday that it would complete the planned purchase of $600 billion in Treasury securities next week as scheduled, and then suspend its three-year-old economic rescue campaign, leaving in place the aid it already is providing but doing nothing more, for now, to bolster growth.

“The economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the committee had expected,” the Fed said in a statement. “The committee expects the pace of recovery to pick up over coming quarters and the unemployment rate to resume its gradual decline.”

Shadow States compares the official U3 and U6 unemployment rates to its adjusted rate:

Shadow Stats and Official Unemployment Rates

I think it is rather clear that the Federal Reserve Bank, the Obama administration and the current Congress have not done enough to address the employment problem in the United States. Nor, it seems, do they intend to do much about this human disaster.

Complacent and vicious — that’s the American way of government when it comes to providing for common folk.

Related articles

• Professor Bernanke Warning of Paralysis Meets Fed Facing Same (delong.typepad.com)
• Fed’s Hoenig: Concerned Fed Getting Complacent About Inflation (forexlive.com)
• Europe debt crisis shadows Fed meeting on economy (usatoday.com)
• Tom Petruno, U.S. economy, Federal Reserve: Don’t look for more stimulus from the Fed – latimes.com (policyabcs.wordpress.com)