What the Fed Could Be Spending $40 Billion a Month On

Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke said today in a news conference that the Fed would be will spending $40 billion a month on mortgage-backed securities. $40 billion! A month! Every month until it decides it doesn't want to anymore.

Now, I'm not an economist, but I gathered from the sound of everybody in the conference room's jaws hitting the floor at the same time that this decision is somewhat… aggressive? Maybe. Crazy is maybe closer to what I'm trying to get at. (Pay no attention to the national election two months away behind the curtain!)

Anyway, just to put $40 billion a month into some perspective, here's what the Fed could be purchasing instead of mortgage-backed securities…

* 605,042,017 pounds of coriander a month

 

* 267 Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor fighter jets a month

 

* 1,625,000,000 pounds of beef jerky a month

 

* 3404.2 of Guam's total coral reefs a month

 

* 7,272,727 zebras (or 1,100% of the world zebra population) a month

 

* 200 Mitt Romneys a month

 

Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images News/Getty Images;Thamizhpparithi Maari, Jim Gordon, Severein, Terry Hughes/Wikimedia Commons

Tags: Ben Bernanke, Economy, Federal Reserve, Money