Richmond Fed’s Lacker: Housing is a Small Part of the Economy, No Worries There
Courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
Apparently my dearest most favorite Fedhead has the memory capacity of a goldfish and has conveniently forgotten what happened in housing not even two full years ago. But hey, it’s his economic outlook, not mine.
“I don’t expect a dramatic worsening” in housing, Lacker said. “Housing is such a small portion of the economy now it’s a little less capable of doing damage. I think we can withstand some shocks to housing and some fluctuations to housing.”
Sales of bomb shelters, bunkers, freeze-dried food and gold bars did notdecline on this news.
My question for dear JML is as follows: Does housing become a problem when the federal government is forced to put zombie GSEs on sheet and thereby factor in that hot mess to their overall budget considerations? Take your time, I’ll be here when you’ve got an answer. How about when the Fed is finally forced to jack up interest rates, thereby ending banks’ free money fest, thereby cutting off a large chunk of Treasury buyers, thereby pushing mortgage rates through the roof? Is it a problem then?
Lacker made his comments to reporters at the opening of Richmond Fed’s extravagant new $4 million money museum. No problems to report in central banking, that’s for sure.
