The Right Questions

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/feds-actions-now-make-sense/story.aspx?guid=%7B5F8E45D2%2D0E94%2D4266%2D9D5E%2D94378DF1F66A%7D

Of course, plenty of questions still remain. Will it be nearly enough? Why didn't the Fed say the downside risks to the economy were more than the risks of inflation? Why couldn't the Fed persuade the Bank of England to take AAA-rated residential mortgage-backed securities from the U.S. as collateral? (The U.K. central bank, interestingly, will take U.S. credit card-backed securities -- the Brits evidently don't doubt the resilience of the U.S. consumer, even if they think house prices are falling off a cliff.)

But the biggest question has to be, what about the timing? Why on earth didn't the Fed announce this at the same time as Tuesday's rate decision? They obviously knew what was going to be announced -- the newspaper leaks from The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times this morning meant that such a move was clearly in the cards.