Hi Toofuzzy, Too right, you are!
It's a battle between hands off versus regulation thinking without finding a middle ground, alas.
Part of the problem with the FED is the thinking that it should provide guidance but not interfere too much in the day to day operations of the financial sector and that it is almost strictly hands off when it comes to some of the issues you raised. As far as I can tell the feeling around the FED is that issues like infrastructure are not in their purview even though they greatly affect the economy as a whole.
There were a couple of things that President Dwight D. Eisenhower that really helped the US economy, the primary one being the building of the US Interstate Highway system. If one looks at that alongside the economies metrics of the period one can see their intertwining as part of the "good old days" often referred to by our parents.
Now the pendulum has swung back to the "hands off, less regulation is best" school of thinking given Trump (even though he wants to spend big on infrastructure) and the current Congress so I'd be on the watch for the consequences that result, much like what happened a few years after the elimination of Glass-Steagall Act under Bill Clinton in 1999.
We'll see what happens, but, like Californians, we need to be prepared for the next major storm.
Best,
Allen
