The irony was palpable. An interview with a Federal Reserve Bank official from last fall, claiming that “we’re a long, long way from any kind of disruption” to the financial system — followed in short order by television clips showing the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
But as “Age of Easy Money” shows, the recent bailout of Silicon Valley Bank represents only the latest example of the Fed disrupting the economy and banking system — almost always with long-term consequences. The two-hour documentary, an episode of the PBS series “Frontline,” was more than two years in the making. Some of the interviews aired as part of an earlier one-hour “Frontline” program broadcast in July 2021.
For a program so long in production, its airdate proved auspicious. The events of recent days have brought into renewed focus the way in which the Federal Reserve has distorted financial markets with interventionist policies and how unwinding those policies will not come quickly — or easily.
