In a commentary, Thomas Lam, Principal Research Associate, and Professor of Finance (Practice) David Fernandez, Director at Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics at SMU, emphasised that the outlook for monetary policy globally, especially in the US, has changed dramatically. But if efforts to prolong the economic cycle lead to greater financial imbalances over time – prospectively worsening the next downturn – then the potential costs of this action should be evaluated more carefully.