For more than five years the Federal Reserve has conducted an unprecedented monetary expansion. Over this stretch the Fed's balance sheet has tripled. Its key interest rate has been zero since December 2008, forcing down rates across the credit spectrum on everything from mortgages to municipal bonds. Various programs and objectives have been used to keep the ride going. What was conceived of as an emergency measure to provide liquidity to the banking system has morphed into a stimulus program that the Fed says is now supposed to heal the labor market. The real question is, who's benefited from this?
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