The Market’s Unhealthy Obsession With Tapering

Markets have developed a fixation with the Federal Reserve’s plans for its bond-purchase program, known as quantitative easing. The Fed should do more to shift their attention to what matters: how it intends to help millions of unemployed Americans get back to work.

The Fed sent a welcome signal today when it announced that it would keep adding to its giant portfolio of Treasuries and mortgage securities at a rate of $85 billion a month, contrary to expectations that it would start tapering the purchases. Given the recent rise in mortgage rates and deterioration in the economic outlook, it’s important that the Fed let people know it’s still on the case.