Summary of Danielle DiMartino Booth's Fed Up

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The Fed’s decision to lower interest rates to the zero bound in 2008 triggered a worldwide panic that blindsided the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s balance sheet had grown to $4. 5 trillion by 2016, thanks to its quantitative easing policies, which had frozen the economy in motion. #2 The Fed’s high interest rates in the 1980s killed the steel and auto industries in Erie, Pennsylvania. The zero bound has dealt the region another devastating blow. #3 The FOMC’s vote during its final meeting of 2008 didn’t come from nowhere. It was part of a long tradition of economic interference by well-meaning bureaucrats, going back to the 1930s. #4 Because of cheap money and the uncertainty around the regulatory and tax landscape, American corporations have been buying back their shares rather than investing in their future. This has been encouraged by the Fed, which has pulled the plug on long-term investment and compromised high-paying job growth.