Summary: The Federal Reserve has been backstopping the American economy for almost a decade with its $4 trillion pile of bonds and mortgage-backed securities it bought up during and after the financial crisis. The idea was to keep borrowing costs low and goose the whole economy. It's widely expected that the Fed's going to start unwinding its balance sheet tomorrow, letting the economy work a little more normally. So what's going to happen? Then: FEMA says fewer than 20 percent of the homes affected by Harvey carried flood insurance, and that makes recovery all the more difficult. Plus: A new study from Yale University says Americans, mostly white Americans, are just plain out of touch with how economically unequal this country is.
