Unconventional monetary policies in the United States. The liquidity trap in contemporary economics

Abstract

This article analyzes the theoretical foundation behind the unconventional monetary policies implemented in the United States as a result of the 2008 crisis and the Great Recession, in the official institutional version, based on a review of the reports published by the Federal Reserve and the Bank. International Payments. This perspective is opposed by the liquidity trap concept of Keynesian theory. It is shown that the theoretical analysis of these institutions ignores a key element in the diagnosis of the difficulties faced by monetary policy, the situation of expectations regarding the future. Additionally, emphasis is placed on the idea that, in the current conditions of capitalism, the liquidity trap is a permanent phenomenon due to the power of financial intermediaries, which breaks with the traditional transmission mechanism of monetary policy.