Is there any limit to the monetary tools the Fed will use to inflate the economy?
"Unprecedented moves by the US Federal Reserve to help combat the global financial crisis have left it facing an unexpected practical problem: finding space for all the extra people it needs to manage its expanded role.
The issue has been particularly critical at the New York Fed – the arm of the central bank which implements its monetary policy.
Now, however, things are rapidly taking shape.
For example, the 'Talf 2.0' team – the Fed staffers seeking to revive the still dysfunctional market for securities backed by commercial mortgages through the $1,000bn term asset-backed loan facility (Talf) – are about to move into one of three extra floors the central bank has leased near its main headquarters on Liberty Street, in New York’s financial district.
In the last year, the size of the Fed’s balance sheet has more than doubled to in excess of $2,000bn.
It has also embraced an unprecedented array of new monetary policy tools – from providing overnight funding to a greater range of financial institutions, to propping up commercial paper markets, to lending money to hedge funds to buy securities backed by credit cards."