I enjoyed this chart from the Atlantic. Here is the Atlantic’s description of it:
Here’s a pie chart that puts into perspective the size of the Fed’s involvement in the financial crisis. The entire circle represents approximately 8 trillion dollars. Yes, $8,000,000,000,000. The blue quadrant represents federal lending including expansion of swap lines to the tune of about $2 trillion. The purple quadrant comprises housing related purchases ($1.45 trillion) and buying $1.8 trillion of commercial paper. You can see a more itemized breakdown here…
Source: The Atlantic
If you click through to either of the links in the quotation above, you can access this graph in a nifty interactive versions that gives more detail on the various Fed programs included in the rescue effort.
This chart only covers about $8 trillion in Fed stimulus activity. I just wrote ‘only $8 trillion’ and it makes sense. What a world we live in.
The $8 trillion covered in this chart does not cover the total amount in question. There are other programs not counted such as the Treasury Asset Purchase Plan (TARP). I have seen reputable estimates for the total Fed involvement in this ‘rescue’ effort of approximately $12 trillion.
