This has been a big week for “economic stimulus.” The Fed announced an emergency rate cut on Tuesday and yesterday Congress unveiled a tax rebate package. But will it really help? The numbers are different from the $500 tax rebate that was being floated earlier.
Instead, some working Americans will get $300 and others will get $600. Some joint filers will get $1,200. It sounds nice, but as I’ve been saying for a while, it’s not really practical. Our government is already running a deficit and most people don’t spend tax rebates and refunds on things that would help them financially.
The …read more

Today’s breaking financial news is an emergency Fed rate cut of 75 basis points, bringing the overnight lending rate to 3.5 percent and the fed funds rate to 4.0 percent. This is the biggest cut since 1982. Apparently, while the Fed still won’t say “recession,” it is starting to take the economic situation seriously. MarketWatch reports on the emergency Fed rate cut:
With the move coming just eight days before the next scheduled meeting, “there can be no doubt that the timing of this morning’s move is aimed at supporting global financial markets after yesterday’s global equity meltdown,” wrote Joshua Shapiro, …read more