Cassandra Of The Crash

An inter view with former Dallas Fed researcher Danielle DiMar tino Booth

- Brian Doherty

Danielle DiMartino Booth worked for nine eventful years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 2006 to 2015 under Chairman and ceo Richard Fisher. Even prior to her Fed stint, as a columnist for the Dallas Morning News, Booth had written that “a huge amount of work will be required in the coming years to address the fallout of the largest financial bubble in history...far beyond the realm of residential real estate.”

She writes about her experiences in the new book Fed Up: An Insider’s Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America (Portfolio/Penguin). Senior Editor Brian Doherty interviewed Booth by phone shortly after the Fed announced in March its third interest rate target hike since 2006.

Q: Is the Fed on track to interest rate sanity now?

A: It’s too little, too late. [Federal Reserve Chair] Janet Yellen continues to be drawn to her academic roots as a labor economist, and wants to keep rates lower for longer [because she hopes it will] bring marginal workers off the sidelines. But the price is what we are giving up in tomorrow’s financial instability.

Q: Do you think Fed policy might have influenced the past few years’ stock market run-up?