So far markets haven’t much responded to the long-dreaded announcement by the Federal Reserve Board today that it plans to “taper” stimulative bond-purchasing in January. It is, to be sure, a slow “taper,” from $85 billion to $75 billion. But still, with the economy remaining shaky and fiscal stimulus pretty much off the table, it’s a big move. Let’s hope it’s not accompanied by panic and that Ben Bernanke makes it clear the Fed’s not going all austericratic on us.
Ed Kilgore, a contributing editor of the Washington Monthly, is a columnist for New York. More by Ed Kilgore
