One could argue that the Fed (and other central banking institutions), compared to times before was that more efficient system, but idealistically, efficient systems are not bounded by the present situation, just temporarily constrained by such. And as people like Bill Gross (who cofounded PIMPCO) are starting to publicly state in some form another, is loosing its effectiveness when it comes to managing resource allocation beyond the state we are at. There are a whole host of human endeavors that are not undertaken (think infrastructure investments) because its more profitable in the short term for large institutions to use their near zero interest credit lines on financial markets, but in the long term are blinded to opportunities that can only come from more efficiency in sectors like energy/mining/transportation.