Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Investigations: Fed's Once-Pristine Balance Sheet Now Loaded With Junk

So is the $700-billion financial bailout in the U.S. going to work? Or is it just transferring risk from private hands that bunged it up to the public and endangering the government's own finances? This Financial Week item shows that under the stewardship of Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board's balance sheet, pristine and virtually risk-free just six months ago, now consists of a huge portion of troubled assets. While U.S. government treasuries accounted for 91 percent of the Fed's mix of reserve assets six months ago, today 48 percent consists of riskier holdings.

TAGS: markets, Bernanke

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