New transcripts from Federal Reserve Federal Open Markets Committee meetings in 2006 are painting a surprising picture of what top leaders and economists predicted was awaiting the world's largest economy, and how that impacted policy at a time when the U.S. was about to fall into its biggest economic contraction since the Great Depression.
At least eight new transcripts are available from the Fed, preceding the failures of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and other firms that took bets on the housing market.
During the September 2006 meeting Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed, took to a surprising analogy when describing a market that was about to drown.
"As one CEO told me, the only subject that has been more analyzed than the housing situation is the birth of Brad Pitt’s baby. [Laughter]," the transcript says.
Business Insider reporters are poring over the transcripts, and will file additional stories as the day progresses. Follow them all on Money Game >
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