The Federal Reserve has shot its bazooka. We’ll see what it accomplishes in the next few months. You can’t tell by the most recent wild week in U.S. stocks. For more on this see page 1.

As I’ve pointed out, markets fear the uncertainty of the coronavirus spread, but fear the knock-on economic effects even more, as they could last much longer. For more on this see pages 3 and 11. China and South Korea have contained the spread. I think it will be contained here eventually. However, the impact on business and employment is why the Fed used the biggest weapon in its arsenal. Other central banks around the world followed in due course with a slew of copycat rate cuts during the week.

The Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low and said it would buy £200 billion of U.K. government bonds. European Central Bank policymakers joined the party, launching a new €750 billion bond-buying program, hoping it will help reduce concerns about the more debt-laden nations in the eurozone, as spending demands increase.

In a move to calm markets, where all have abandoned pretty much all asset classes and moved to cash, the Fed is hoping to help improve liquidity. Last Sunday it cut the Fed funds rate to near zero from 1.00%-1.25%, itself a level reached on...

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