Federal Reserve Tries To Get Credit Moving Again

NPR | By Adam Davidson,

Steve Inskeep

Published October 7, 2008 at 9:52 AM EDT

The government announced Tuesday that it plans to buy huge amounts of short-term debt from companies. The Fed will buy "commercial paper," a short-term financing mechanism that many companies use to finance their day-to-day operations, like meeting payroll or purchasing supplies. NPR's Adam Davidson tells Steve Inskeep why the Fed thought it needed to step in again.

Adam Davidson

Adam Davidson is a contributor to Planet Money, a co-production of NPR and This American Life. He also writes the weekly "It's the Economy" column for the New York Times Magazine.

See stories by Adam Davidson

Steve Inskeep

Steve Inskeep is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.

See stories by Steve Inskeep

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