Fed Cuts Benchmark Rate to Near Zero

[Ted King]

swampy wrote:
Banks aren't lending money to each other so what is lowering the interest rate supposed to do to encourage them do so?

I heard on NPR this morning that the Fed realizes that what you are saying is true, so they may be considering creating financial lending vehicles that skip the banks - where the fed is much closer to directly making loans itself. That would be interesting - maybe just the threat of them doing so might shake loose some lending from the solvent banks.