This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
If you asked most people what caused today's unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes, few would point to the Federal Reserve. For much of its history, the Fed has been celebrated as the guardian of the economy—credited with both economic growth and for rescuing us during crises, like the 2008 crash. But The Lords of Easy Money tells the inside story of how the Fed's actions, particularly since 2010, have reshaped the American economy for the worse.
It all began on November 3, 2010, when the Fed embarked on a radical experiment called quantitative easing (QE). In just a few years, the Fed quadrupled the money supply with one goal: to encourage banks and investors to take on more risky debt. Despite knowing the risks and acknowledging that the policy wouldn't produce real jobs, the Fed proceeded, eventually trapping itself. Once it printed the money, it couldn't pull it back from circulation. Each time the Fed attempted to withdraw funds, the market would crash, forcing it to turn the money spigot back on. This pattern continued, most recently when the Fed printed 300 years' worth of money in just a few months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, a decade later, the consequences of this bold experiment are clear: the gap between the rich and poor has grown dramatically, inflation is surging, and the stock market is driven by cycles of boom, bust, and bailout. Middle-class Americans find themselves stuck in a stage of permanent stagnation, burdened by credit card debt, car loans, and student loans, while wage gains are eroded by high prices. Meanwhile, the "too big to fail" banks have only grown more powerful, and the richest Americans continue to benefit from a hyper-charged financial system.
