Start Here (5 presets)
Fast anchors for first-time exploration: pre-COVID, COVID shock, rate liftoff, first 75bp hike, and SVB stress.
These dates are anchors. Many official statistics update weekly/monthly/quarterly, so effects appear in later releases.
2019-12-01
Pre-COVID baseline
A clean pre-shock baseline across labor, inflation, and rates before pandemic distortions.
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2020-04-01
COVID shock
Unemployment spikes and fiscal response ramps while rates move into emergency settings.
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2022-03-16
Rate liftoff
Post-COVID hikes begin and borrowing-cost dynamics start to reset.
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2022-06-15
First 75bp hike
An aggressive tightening phase makes 2022 a distinct rates regime.
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2023-03-10
SVB fails
Banking stress changes policy expectations and short-term rate path assumptions.
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Crises & shocks
Macro breakpoints where spending, labor, inflation, and financial conditions can change regime quickly.
2001-09-11
9/11 shock
Spending priorities shift while the rates environment evolves over the following cycle.
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2008-09-15
Lehman Brothers collapse
Jobs, rates, deficits, and policy stance pivot hard through the financial crisis.
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2009-03-09
Stock market trough (GFC)
A turning point in risk conditions while labor and fiscal stress remain elevated.
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2020-03-11
WHO declares COVID-19 pandemic
Rapid shifts begin across jobs, deficits, and emergency rate policy.
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2020-04-01
COVID lockdown recession month
Unemployment-spike era and fiscal surge become visible in official releases.
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2022-02-24
Russia invades Ukraine
Inflation and energy shock era appears in price pressure and rates behavior.
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2023-03-10
SVB fails
Banking stress episode impacts yields, risk appetite, and policy expectations.
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Rates & inflation regime shifts
Useful markers for moving between QE, hike, pivot, and high-inflation periods in one click.
2010-11-03
QE2 announced
A classic low-rates/QE era anchor for comparison against later tightening cycles.
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2015-12-16
First Fed hike after ZLB era
Start of the 2015-2018 hiking cycle and gradual normalization.
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2018-10-03
"Long way from neutral" era
Peak tightening vibes before the eventual pivot.
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2019-07-31
First Fed cut of the cycle
Policy direction turns back toward easing.
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2022-03-16
Fed liftoff (post-COVID hikes begin)
Rates module enters a fundamentally different regime.
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2022-06-15
First 75bp hike in decades
Anchor point for the fastest phase of modern tightening.
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2023-07-26
Peak policy rate (this cycle)
Handy marker for late-cycle policy tightness and aftereffects.
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2024-??-??
First cut of the cycle
Add once clearly confirmed and cited in-app.
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No jump date yet. Add once confirmed.
Fiscal & debt landmarks
Nonpartisan policy timestamps to inspect receipts, outlays, deficit flow, and debt dynamics around major shifts.
2011-08-02
Debt ceiling crisis / Budget Control Act era
A fiscal-constraint period marker useful for spending and deficit context.
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2013-03-01
Sequester begins
Spending growth dynamics shift, especially in composition views.
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2017-12-22
TCJA signed
Receipts/outlays relationships evolve in following years.
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2020-03-27
CARES Act signed
Large fiscal surge and visible jumps in deficit and debt trajectories.
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2021-03-11
American Rescue Plan signed
Another major fiscal pulse with follow-through across demand and prices.
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2022-08-16
Inflation Reduction Act signed
Policy marker with debated effects, still useful as a timeline anchor.
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Baseline anchors
Quick modern baselines for everyday compare-and-contrast in Time Machine.
2019-12-01
Pre-COVID baseline
Use as a clean baseline before pandemic-driven volatility.
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2021-06-01
Inflation acceleration era
Price-pressure regime visibly changes versus pre-COVID norms.
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2022-01-01
Start of the rate-shock year
Good jump point right before aggressive tightening begins.
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2023-01-01
Post-peak inflation normalization
Inflation cools from highs while rates remain restrictive.
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2025-01-01
Recent baseline
Current-cycle context anchor for short-horizon comparisons.
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