Summarize the increasingly aggressive steps the Federal Reserve employed beginning in the summer of 2008 to increase liquidity in the U.S. economy.

The deliverables should cover the following points:

 1. Circumstances that prompted intervention,

2. Actions taken,

 3. Objective and economic rationale,

4. Process including how the Fed paid for the financial assets it purchased, and

 5. Effect on the monetary base, money supply and interest rates.

Include graphic illustrations of the monetary base, M2 money supply and short term interest rates over a suitable period of time to provide a visual historical perspective. Conclude with a short analysis of the Fed's actions. Given the tools available at the time, was the Fed successful in meeting its objectives?

Finally, discuss the possible dangers that lie ahead in the wake of the Fed's actions since 2008 and recommend how it might gradually reduce its heightened intervention in the U.S. economy