Think it's easy printing green? Believe you could do a better job than our illustrious bubble-blower-in-chief? The WSJ has created 'The Federator' [7] in what we assume is a qualifying process for a Federal Reserve career. On an otherwise quiet day in equity and bond markets, the 'Defender-esque' game enables rates to be lowered (through the bearded-one's jetpack) or raised and a helicopter money-drop is added with the goals of maintaining the 2% inflation rate while keeping unemployment low... Fail and you will witness a WSJ headline exclaiming the error of your ways.
"Armed at first with a jetpack of prospective rate cuts, a bearded central banker takes off in a quest to keep the growth rate up, the unemployment lines short, and prices stable.
True to the U.S. experience during the financial crisis, unemployment jumps quickly at the outset and the economy tanks, requiring hefty rate cuts.
Once rates reach zero, as they are bound to do, the jet pack transforms into a helicopter that starts dumping money on the economy below. It’s quantitative easing time!"
WSJ's explanation [8] of the game:
Click image to 'play'...
[7]