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Full Bernanke Testimony And Live Webcast
Congressional testimony can be watched here, pundit commentary free.
Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and other members of the Committee, I am pleased to present the Federal Reserve's semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress.
I will begin today with some comments on the outlook for the economy and for monetary policy, then touch briefly on several other
important issues.
The Economic Outlook
Although the recession officially began more than two years ago, U.S. economic activity contracted particularly sharply following the intensification of the global financial crisis in the fall of 2008. Concerted efforts by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and other U.S. authorities to stabilize the financial system, together with highly stimulative monetary and fiscal policies, helped arrest the decline and are supporting a nascent economic recovery. Indeed, the U.S. economy expanded at about a 4 percent annual rate during the second half of last year.
A significant portion of that growth, however, can be attributed to the progress firms made in working down unwanted inventories of unsold goods, which left them more willing to increase production. As the impetus provided by the inventory cycle is temporary, and as the fiscal support for economic growth likely will diminish later this year, a sustained recovery will depend on continued growth in private-sector final demand for goods and services.
Private final demand does seem to be growing at a moderate pace, buoyed in part by a general improvement in financial conditions. In particular, consumer spending has recently picked up, reflecting gains in real disposable income and household wealth and tentative signs of stabilization in the labor market. Business investment in equipment and software has risen significantly. And international trade--supported by a recovery in the economies of many of our trading partners--is rebounding from its deep contraction of a year ago. However, starts of single-family homes, which rose noticeably this past spring, have recently been roughly flat, and commercial construction is declining sharply, reflecting poor fundamentals and continued difficulty in obtaining financing.
The job market has been hit especially hard by the recession, as employers reacted to sharp sales declines and concerns about credit availability by deeply cutting their workforces in late 2008 and in 2009. Some recent indicators suggest the deterioration in the labor market is abating: Job losses have slowed considerably, and the number of full-time jobs in manufacturing rose modestly in January. initial claims for unemployment insurance have continued to trend lower, and the temporary services industry, often considered a bellwether for the employment outlook, has been expanding steadily since October. Notwithstanding these positive signs, the job market remains quite weak, with the unemployment rate near 10 percent and job openings scarce. Of particular concern, because of its long-term implications for workers' skills and wages, is the increasing incidence of long-term unemployment; indeed, more than 40 percent of the unemployed have been out of work six months or more, nearly double the share of a year ago.
Increases in energy prices resulted in a pickup in consumer price inflation in the second half of last year, but oil prices have flattened out over recent months, and most indicators suggest that inflation likely will be subdued for some time. Slack in labor and product markets has reduced wage and price pressures in most markets, and sharp increases in productivity have further reduced producers' unit labor costs. The cost of shelter, which receives a heavy weight in consumer price indexes, is rising very slowly, reflecting high vacancy rates. In addition, according to most measures, longer-term inflation expectations have remained relatively stable.
The improvement in financial markets that began last spring continues. Conditions in short-term funding markets have returned to near pre-crisis levels. Many (mostly larger) firms have been able to issue corporate bonds or new equity and do not seem to be hampered by a lack of credit. In contrast, bank lending continues to contract, reflecting both tightened lending standards and weak demand for credit amid uncertain economic prospects.
In conjunction with the January meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Board members and Reserve Bank presidents prepared projections for economic growth, unemployment, and inflation for the years 2010 through 2012 and over the longer run. The contours of these forecasts are broadly similar to those I reported to the Congress last July. FOMC participants continue to anticipate a moderate pace of economic recovery, with economic growth of roughly 3 to 3-1/2 percent in 2010 and 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 percent in 2011. Consistent with moderate economic growth, participants expect the unemployment rate to decline only slowly, to a range of roughly 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 percent by the end of 2012, still well above their estimate of the long-run sustainable rate of about 5 percent. Inflation is expected to remain subdued, with consumer prices rising at rates between 1 and 2 percent in 2010 through 2012. In the longer term, inflation is expected to be between 1-3/4 and 2 percent, the range that most FOMC participants judge to be consistent with the Federal Reserve's dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment.
Monetary Policy
Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has employed a wide array of tools to promote economic recovery and preserve price stability. The target for the federal funds rate has been maintained at a historically low range of 0 to 1/4 percent since December 2008. The FOMC continues to anticipate that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.
To provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve is in the process of purchasing $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billion of agency debt. We have been gradually slowing the pace of these purchases in order to promote a smooth transition in markets and anticipate that these transactions will be completed by the end of March. The FOMC will continue to evaluate its purchases of securities in light of the evolving economic outlook and conditions in financial markets.
In response to the substantial improvements in the functioning of most financial markets, the Federal Reserve is winding down the special liquidity facilities it created during the crisis. On February 1, a number of these facilities, including credit facilities for primary dealers, lending programs intended to help stabilize money market mutual funds and the commercial paper market, and temporary liquidity swap lines with foreign central banks, were allowed to expire. The only remaining lending program for multiple borrowers created under the Federal Reserve's emergency authorities, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, is scheduled to close on March 31 for loans backed by all types of collateral except newly issued commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and on June 30 for loans backed by newly issued CMBS.
In addition to closing its special facilities, the Federal Reserve is normalizing its lending to commercial banks through the discount window. The final auction of discount-window funds to depositories through the Term Auction Facility, which was created in the early stages of the crisis to improve the liquidity of the banking system, will occur on March 8. Last week we announced that the maximum term of discount window loans, which was increased to as much as 90 days during the crisis, would be returned to overnight for most banks, as it was before the crisis erupted in August 2007. To discourage banks from relying on the discount window rather than private funding markets for short-term credit, last week we also increased the discount rate by 25 basis points, raising the spread between the discount rate and the top of the target range for the federal funds rate to 50 basis points. These changes, like the closure of most of the special lending facilities earlier this month, are in response to the improved functioning of financial markets, which has reduced the need for extraordinary assistance from the Federal Reserve. These adjustments are not expected to lead to tighter financial conditions for households and businesses and should not be interpreted as signaling any change in the outlook for monetary policy, which remains about the same as it was at the time of the January meeting of the FOMC.
Although the federal funds rate is likely to remain exceptionally low for an extended period, as the expansion matures, the Federal Reserve will at some point need to begin to tighten monetary conditions to prevent the development of inflationary pressures. Notwithstanding the substantial increase in the size of its balance sheet associated with its purchases of Treasury and agency securities, we are confident that we have the tools we need to firm the stance of monetary policy at the appropriate time.
Most importantly, in October 2008 the Congress gave statutory authority to the Federal Reserve to pay interest on banks' holdings of reserve balances at Federal Reserve Banks. By increasing the interest rate on reserves, the Federal Reserve will be able to put significant upward pressure on all short-term interest rates. Actual and prospective increases in short-term interest rates will be reflected in turn in longer-term interest rates and in financial conditions more generally.
The Federal Reserve has also been developing a number of additional tools to reduce the large quantity of reserves held by the banking system, which will improve the Federal Reserve's control of financial conditions by leading to a tighter relationship between the interest rate paid on reserves and other short-term interest rates. Notably, our operational capacity for conducting reverse repurchase agreements, a tool that the Federal Reserve has historically used to absorb reserves from the banking system, is being expanded so that such transactions can be used to absorb large quantities of reserves. The Federal Reserve is also currently refining plans for a term deposit facility that could convert a portion of depository institutions' holdings of reserve balances into deposits that are less liquid and could not be used to meet reserve requirements. In addition, the FOMC has the option of redeeming or selling securities as a means of reducing outstanding bank reserves and applying monetary restraint. Of course, the sequencing of steps and the combination of tools that the Federal Reserve uses as it exits from its currently very accommodative policy stance will depend on economic and financial developments. I provided more discussion of these options and possible sequencing in a recent testimony.
Federal Reserve Transparency
The Federal Reserve is committed to ensuring that the Congress and the public have all the information needed to understand our decisions and to be assured of the integrity of our operations. Indeed, on matters related to the conduct of monetary policy, the Federal Reserve is already one of the most transparent central banks in the world, providing detailed records and explanations of its decisions. Over the past year, the Federal Reserve also took a number of steps to enhance the transparency of its special credit and liquidity facilities, including the provision of regular, extensive reports to the Congress and the public; and we have worked closely with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Congress, and private-sector auditors on a range of matters relating to these facilities.
While the emergency credit and liquidity facilities were important tools for implementing monetary policy during the crisis, we understand that the unusual nature of those facilities creates a special obligation to assure the Congress and the public of the integrity of their operation. Accordingly, we would welcome a review by the GAO of the Federal Reserve's management of all facilities created under emergency authorities. In particular, we would support legislation authorizing the GAO to audit the operational integrity, collateral policies, use of third-party contractors, accounting, financial reporting, and internal controls of these special credit and liquidity facilities. The Federal Reserve will, of course, cooperate fully and actively in all reviews. We are also prepared to support legislation that would require the release of the identities of the firms that participated in each special facility after an appropriate delay. It is important that the release occur after a lag that is sufficiently long that investors will not view an institution's use of one of the facilities as a possible indication of ongoing financial problems, thereby undermining market confidence in the institution or discouraging use of any future facility that might become necessary to protect the U.S. economy. An appropriate delay would also allow firms adequate time to inform investors through annual reports and other public documents of their use of Federal Reserve facilities.
Looking ahead, we will continue to work with the Congress in identifying approaches for enhancing the Federal Reserve's transparency that are consistent with our statutory objectives of fostering maximum employment and price stability. In particular, it is vital that the conduct of monetary policy continue to be insulated from short-term political pressures so that the FOMC can make policy decisions in the longer-term economic interests of the American people. Moreover, the confidentiality of discount window lending to individual depository institutions must be maintained so that the Federal Reserve continues to have effective ways to provide liquidity to depository institutions under circumstances where other sources of funding are not available.
The Federal Reserve's ability to inject liquidity into the financial system is critical for preserving financial stability and for supporting depositories' key role in meeting the ongoing credit needs of firms and households.
Regulatory Reform
Strengthening our financial regulatory system is essential for the long-term economic stability of the nation. Among the lessons of the crisis are the crucial importance of macroprudential regulation--that is, regulation and supervision aimed at addressing risks to the financial system as a whole--and the need for effective consolidated supervision of every financial institution that is so large or interconnected that its failure could threaten the functioning of the entire financial system.
The Federal Reserve strongly supports the Congress's ongoing efforts to achieve comprehensive financial reform. In the meantime, to strengthen the Federal Reserve's oversight of banking rganizations, we have been conducting an intensive self-examination of our regulatory and supervisory responsibilities and have been actively implementing improvements. For example, the Federal Reserve has been playing a key role in international efforts to toughen capital and liquidity requirements for financial institutions, particularly systemically critical firms, and we have been taking the lead in ensuring that compensation structures at banking organizations provide appropriate incentives without encouraging excessive risk-taking.
The Federal Reserve is also making fundamental changes in its supervision of large, complex bank holding companies, both to improve the effectiveness of consolidated supervision and to incorporate a macroprudential perspective that goes beyond the traditional focus on safety and soundness of individual institutions. We are overhauling our supervisory framework and procedures to improve coordination within our own supervisory staff and with other supervisory agencies and to facilitate more-integrated assessments of risks within each holding company and across groups of companies.
Last spring the Federal Reserve led the successful Supervisory Capital Assessment Program, popularly known as the bank stress tests. An important lesson of that program was that combining on-site bank examinations with a suite of quantitative and analytical tools can greatly improve comparability of the results and better identify potential risks. In that spirit, the Federal Reserve is also in the process of developing an enhanced quantitative surveillance program for large bank holding companies. Supervisory information will be combined with firm-level, market-based indicators and aggregate economic data to provide a more complete picture of the risks facing these institutions and the broader financial system. Making use of the Federal Reserve's unparalleled breadth of expertise, this program will apply a multidisciplinary approach that involves economists, specialists in particular financial markets, payments systems experts, and other professionals, as well as bank supervisors.
The recent crisis has also underscored the extent to which direct involvement in the oversight of banks and bank holding companies contributes to the Federal Reserve's effectiveness in carrying out its responsibilities as a central bank, including the making of monetary policy and the management of the discount window. Most important, as the crisis has once again demonstrated, the Federal Reserve's ability to identify and address diverse and hard-to-predict threats to financial stability depends critically on the information, expertise, and powers that it has by virtue of being both a bank supervisor and a central bank.
The Federal Reserve continues to demonstrate its commitment to strengthening consumer protections in the financial services arena. Since the time of the previous Monetary Policy Report in July, the Federal Reserve has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of the regulations governing consumer mortgage transactions, and we are collaborating with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to assess how we might further increase transparency in the mortgage process. We have issued rules implementing enhanced consumer protections for credit card accounts and private student loans as well as new rules to ensure that consumers have meaningful opportunities to avoid overdraft fees. In addition, the Federal Reserve has implemented an expanded consumer compliance supervision program for nonbank subsidiaries of bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations.
More generally, the Federal Reserve is committed to doing all that can be done to ensure that our economy is never again devastated by a financial collapse. We look forward to working with the Congress to develop effective and comprehensive reform of the financial regulatory framework.
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I realize given his title we have to read his transcript but does anyone really, truly believe he could actually fess up and tell it as it is. In which case, what's the point....
of course not. his 'job' is to officially obfuscate; to help massage public expectation (spanning the entire gamut from portfolio mngrs n politicos to the ben stein's n sarah pale-eyes of the world). to this end uncle ben has been nothing short of remarkably successful ~ inflation expectation v 'inflation'
+1
A master of prestidigiflation. No question.
Fed Chair or Gov might be the single greatest example of paid procrasturbation imaginable. Their literal job is to mentally jerk it on camera for all to see.
That, is fucking profane ... since 'listening' to what they say, literally, strips away almost any chance at investment success.
I would actually advance the contra-argument that listening (actually, watching their signalled moves) to "them" greatly enhances one's chance to outperform the market.
After all, they've been in charge of the entire game since 1694, so by merely watching and trailing their actions, even if you don't have a seat at the table, you can definitely live pretty well on the scraps.
The real mistake many ideologues make is to confuse what should be with what actually is. However, this by no means negates the opportunity we all have to finally implement what should be. Rather, it's simply a process of waiting for the right moment. Which, if the train is running on schedule, should be occurring shortly.
So, try and store as many acorns as possible. Unless we coerce some new slaves to work for pennies, find a colossal energy reserve, or discover some other fantastic asset-inflation device in which to roll forward yet again the un-payable principal+interest, the end game to this 316 year-old super-cycle is finally nearing its curtain call.
Front row seats!
agree wholeheartedly with ya, B9K9 ... but we're obviously of a similar cyclical persuasion. would venture a guess that you're well aware that 1913 - 2002 is 89 years (Fed) and that America's 233rd b-day likely marked its socio-cultural peak. oliver cromwell's construct across the pond isn't faring so well either, but, c'est la cycles.
I'm sensing a general level of disappointment on this thread. But really, what did everyone think the outcome would be? A full confession along the lines of "Yeah, the money/credit system is utterly dependent on perpetual asset-inflation in which to provide another tranche of credit leverage in order to roll over & pyramid existing (and un-payable) principal+interest balances"?
The bottom line is we're dealing with consummate professionals. There is NO WAY the ridiculous perfumed princes (and princesses) we call our elected representatives have any chance at besting these people. They've had thousands of years to perfect the message; rhetoric will not win the day.
The only way to defeat the beast is to let nature take its course. Over the last millenium, every time the money-credit system was on its last legs, a new continent was discovered, or incredible stores of energy in the forms of coal, oil & gas were exploited, or entire nations of people numbering over 2 billion strong were willing to work like slave in order to keep the asset-inflation engine humming.
However, this time around really, really seems like the final curtain call. Unless something utterly stupendous comes to the rescue of mankind, nature is going to foreclose our account. And that, my friends, is when the SHTF.
We could make some nice black puddings from the blood of politicians. Is that stupendous enough?
"Unless something utterly stupendous comes to the rescue of mankind...."
Hum, let's see. What could the world's financial elite (who consider the entire world their playground) or their masters come up with that would unite the world's populations and religions and cause everyone to forget or ignore all the thieving, corruption and killing that's been going on for the past few years/decades/centuries?
I have a few ideas. Do you? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zyjLyBp64
Quite the ass-toot observation aber I'm thinking a super sweet world war will save us. China-tiawan, Isreal- iran , wall st.-main st. Disgusting russians attempting to co-op arctic ocean oil. Plenty of triggers lying around. Its worked before...
CNBS: As usual when Dr. Ron Paul was speaking, he was in one window (left) with Steve LIESman in the other (right). Of course, the sound was from the "gas bag" on the right. Unless one is a lip reader, Dr. Paul could only be watched.
WHY do people actually still bother with CNBC? Seriously, wake up to their usualy bag of hot air pumping.
FYI: Bernanke live streaming online
www.c-span.org/flvPop.aspx?src=org1&s=0&e=-1&live=F&pop=Y&srv=fms.c-span.org&remote=N
I think it's fun to watch their transparent attempts to spin.. Just gotta set your 'previous channel' button to Bloomberg to watch what the propagandists don't want you to see (or can't take the chance of you seeing) - especially RP. They'll show it later once they cut and splice...
c'mon it's hilarious =D
Just looked, only to find the representative was clueless and bernanke lying as usual.
These folks are a waste of time and air
The Federal Reserve is also currently refining plans for a term deposit facility that could convert a portion of depository institutions' holdings of reserve balances into deposits that are less liquid and could not be used to meet reserve requirements.
Is this new? He stumbled as he read it.
it's not new, has been discussed previously.
He stumbled? Strange...
Must be using Hank Paulson's old speech writer...
You want testimony, did I hear someone say testimony? Here's your testimony:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cz4vcQKWfA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cz4vcQKWfA
I . . . who took the money?
Who took the money away?
I . . . it’s always showtime
Here at the edge of the stage
I, i, i, wake up and wonder
What was the place, what was the name?
We wanna wait, but here we go again...
I . . . takes over slowly
But doesn’t last very long
I . . . no need to worry
Evr’ything’s under control
O - u - t but no hard feelings
What do you know? take you away
We’re being taken for a ride again...
That's it, I'm done. Voting for Ron Paul in 2012.
ron paul ftw
Why didn't Rep. Paul flat out ask Bernanke if the Federal Reserve has purchased futures or stocks since in the past 12 months?
I am suprised if he was going to put Bernanke on the hot seat about Greece and the Fed not participating in a bailout why not ask about a backroom IMF deal?
Who did Bernake just turn over his shoulder and refer to when Ron Paul asked if the Fed had the authority to purchase foreign bonds?!?
My initial thoughts are that either:
A) He genuinely didn't know
B) He's somebody's bitch, and had to get permission to answer that question
I'm going with B. He is one cold-eyed liar.
This was a pretty profound moment for me, because up until 10 minutes ago I firmly believe Benji was easily one of the most powerful players in the world. Maybe I don't watch him speak enough, but I've never noticed a flinch like that where he turned to another person for whatever reason mid-testimony. I'm now questioning myself, wondering if Benji is just like Obama and nothing more.
Also, can we get a fucking technician in to fix their microphones that never seem to work? Maybe Toyota could lend one of their electronics people to help out while they're there.
I think he used that moment to decide how to lie his way out of the question..
Imagine Dorothy as the beguiled American public, the scarecrow as representing indebted consumers, the tin man symbolizing industrial workers, the cowardly lion as the Masters of the Universe and the Wizard as the Oracle at Eccles.
And the yellow brick road as the debasement of the sovereign scrip where Dorothy can return home to prosperity by following this path.
A rhyming version of what many folks think was a hidden message within the Wizard of Oz.
Back then, the United States was on the gold standard. When there was malinvestment causing overproduction, prices fell.
William Jennings Bryan, represented by Baum as the cowardly lion, argued for the right to coin money and issue money as a function of government. He contrasted his platform of legislating to make the masses prosperous whereby their prosperity would find its way up and through every class that rested upon them with his opponents' platform that Bryan derisively opined held fast that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity would leak through on those below. His opponents argued for sound money.
Today's cowardly lions ,or Nancy Capitalists, are the Masters of the Universe that have literally been given the right to coin money (saved by zero, money for nothing) and issue money (FDIC guaranteed debt, the chits are free.)
Today's Wizard of Oz, the Oracle at Eccles, argues for sound money. Hiding behind the 'I Can't Beleive it is not Capitalism' curtain, he too has been shown as a fraud.
Today's malinvestment cannot and will not result in prices falling, says the Wizard.
Pay no attention to the marks behind the curtain. The operating levers secretly lubricated by the debasement of the scrip cannot be disturbed, discussed or disclosed lest the Emerald City be laid to waste.
Bryan said 'You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.'
Sorry Bill, the cross has been sold, leveraged, rehypothecated, and is being leveraged again. Sound money is now found money. For the masses? The Dark Side of the Rainbow.
Oh, and in L. Frank Baum's original novels, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry find a refuge in Oz when they are unable to pay their mortgage on the new house that was built after the old one was carried away by the tornado.
'Nuff said.
You stole my stuff...and it was Todo who saved the day. Now who would this unsuspecting savior be, Warren Buffet , Bill Gates, Bill Gross naw... RAMBO
The original slippers were silver.
We've evolved from silver democrats to confetti plutocrats ...
To summarize.
B.S. Bernanke mumbling (like an ashamed thief), "Look, peasants, we'll do what we like. We won't tell you about it. It is too complicated for you to understand anyhow."
Son, we live in a world that has markets.
And those markets have to be guarded by banksters
with money. Who's gonna do it? You? You,
Senator Bunning? I have a greater
responsibility than you can possibly
fathom. You weep for capitalism and you
curse the banksters. You have that luxury.
You have the luxury of not knowing what I
know: That capitalism's death, while tragic,
probably saved jobs. And my existence,
while grotesque and incomprehensible to
you, saves jobs.
You don't want the truth. Because deep
down, in places you don't talk about at
parties, you want me at the wheel.
You need me there ...
We use words like 'growth','stability',
'profits'...we use these words as the
backbone to a life spent defending
something. You use 'em as a punchline.
I have neither the time nor the
inclination to audit myself for a man who
rises and sleeps under the blanket of the
very guarantees I provide, then questions the
manner in which I provide it. I'd prefer
you just said thank you and went on your
way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a
private sector job and stand a post. Either way, I
don't give a damn what you think you're
entitled to.
=D That was fun! Had to read it twice, second time out loud with The Voice.
OH. MY. GOD. would someone puleeze send maxine waters an econ 101 text book?
Maxine Waters needs to stop learning about Fed policy from what "people on TV" say. OMG she is an embarrasment to the American people.
People need to get to know their representatives better since these people directly impact our lives. People just assume " well hey politics, not my bag and too complicated". Trust me if these morons are being elected it is certainly not to complicated to understand.
Barney Frank is looking especially gross looking this a.m.. I bet he smells disgusting too.
Have you read Johngaltfla's "blovel"?
I imagine the character "Porky" as Barney Frank.
He probably smells like baby powder - with a little bit of that "didn't wipe" aroma.
I am in awe at how fucking stupid some of these congressmen are. I mean, that's not exactly news, but the sheer dumb ass level of stupidity on show here is just... completely awesome.
Ms. Waters: How can we get minorities more jobs?
All these politicians are concerned about is the appearance to their constituents that they have "their" interests in mind. From Orange Country to Newark. Why do we not focus on the screw job of the American Citizens as a WHOLE?
They just keep stealing from the taxpayer pool and taking with increasing volume and frequency in order to get elected. Nobody has the resolution to say no and stop giving the kids candy. Eventually there is not sugar left to make the candy bars so then what happens?
Splenda?
Wow - Maxine Waters is stupid.
Sorry there's no other word for it.
Just imagine the people that voted for her...
Astounded that people voted her into office. How dumb must they be in comparison if they were fooled by....Maxine Waters.
You see, they're stupid but they got elected so probably what we got is what we wanted, no?
Deserved.
They are all making sure that the Washington Punch Bowl remains functional - why crap on Bennie when their careers are in his mitts?
Maxine Waters in an elected representative. She is on TV now showing the world the education level of her constituents.
You should all be ashamed. The US is always portrayed as stupid, and MW just proved it. The apathy amungst you folks is amazing. Care much about your country? Oh wait.... American Idol is on tonight..... maybe after that.
Knock it off. She is a house rep from east l.a. or compton. Pretty rough area, every country has em. I can't believe Barney Frank hasn't made sure she gets educated in order to help the committee positively. She is also the number one recipient of campaign contributions from goldman sachs.
This is just depressing. Liars and damn liars all around. Get them all on a bus and point them towards the cliff!!!
"we're not going to be monetizing the debt"
"The recession is over"
The "Great Recession" ends. The "Greatest Depression" starts.
Well, after watching this embarrassment, I can see that there is absolutely no solution to the mess we are in, save for complete and total collapse. In a just and fair world, I cannot see a single head that deserves to remain on the shoulders of any of the stiffs propping theirs up and wasting the air that reasonable people breathe. Then again, if Maxine Waters can get elected, there may not be such a thing as reasonable people. Even Ron Paul is a letdown for not being more aggressive and asking pertinent questions, and straying off topic to long dead issues about, e.g., Saddam Hussein. He ends up looking like a wacko.
We are ruled by carnival people. No, that's unfair. We should be so lucky to be ruled by carnival people!
we may not be ruled by carnival people, but soon we'll be living in tents
Hold on. Wait a minute. Years before he had any of the recent popularity he's obtained, Dr. Paul did just as you suggested and even recommended to Sir Alan during one hearing before the committe, that Greenspan resign for doing such a poor job in meeting his own targets. How long can anyone maintain a level of confrontation before it wears on you, especially when it leads to ridicule, not respect? Its only after the meltdown, which hit with full force after the poltical conventions, that other began to take what the man had to say with any degree of seriousness. If you doubt me, go to youtube and watch the abuse he took during the Republican debates, and this was in late '07 and early '08. Not all that long ago.
He's no longer a young man, for most his political life he's done a job above and beyond the call of duty in attempting to warning people about not only what came to pass, but that which lies ahead. So let's cut him some slack when he's not always at the top of his game or if he uses TV face-time to advance other causes he sees as being worthy. He's been ahead of the game for years and might still yet be. Only time will tell.
If Paul cannot deliver anymore, he owes it to the country to get out of the way. This is no time for sentimentality. He's not Arnold Palmer taking a 40 year victory lap, he's an elected representative of the people tasked with doing what is right for the country. Bernanke did not even break a sweat today, and knowing that free money and big WS bonuses are here until a complete collapse of the country, the computer jocks pumped yet more air in this bubble. Nobody had to ask if QE2 is coming, because it is and there isn't anyone to stop it.
First time I've disagreed with many of your excellent contributions. Dr. Paul has been marginalized ever since he wouldn't sell his soul to the Fedgods. His tenacity and integrity are what we need. Less of him is more of the same. If we had 19 more Dr. Pauls there would be a serious shift in conscious American thought.
But he is one-of-a-kind. He'll fight until death, and I support him fully.
Letting Rep.Waters (C-Dumo.) ask questions of Dr. Bernanke is like opting to have a corpse from an English murder mystery perform open heart surgery on an expired organ donor.
Switching between C-Span, Bloomberg, and CNBS. Has anyone noticed that Steve Liesman is the newly appointed EXPERT on Federal Reserve and Treasury matters at CNBS? All of a sudden all of the co-hosts and contirbutors are kissing his ass? The joke that is CNBS has just risen to a new level.
Liesman got rid of Gasparino so now king of the dung heap.
We profit by doing the contrary of what he says...
On to the real enemy Toyota.
I knew, the minute that Rattner the dirty Rat took over GM and the car industry as “Obama’s car czar” to be followed by his partner Ron Bloom after his past caught up with him, that the modus operandi for Obama Motors would be to cheat.
And that’s exactly how they’re doing it—cheating by monopolizing and running their competitors (Toyota)out of business. Before Toyota came to America, the average life of most American cars was, I understand, about 40,000 miles, running 6-12 miles per gallon—designed for two-year obsolescence. If you leaned on the door panel, it would dent. And if it didn’t, they changed the year model on you so drastically that it made last year’s fins as passé as yesterday’s sideburns. It got so bad, I understand, that megabucks Howard Hughes took out a classified ad on the front page of the NYTimes decrying his “lemon Lincoln.”
The government-owned US car industry’s now a closed insider shop, and if you try to break in they’ll break your knees with tariffs, lies and harassment. Here’s just one closed-shop quote from Stevie: To add critical expertise and help buttress us against attacks from the left, I recruited as my partner Ron Bloom, a tireless former investment banker with whom I had overlapped briefly at Lazard Frères but who had dedicated the previous 12 years to working on behalf of steelworkers. Ron's hefty Main Street experience could help balance my Wall Street baggage.—Steve Rattner: The Auto Bailout: How We Did IT, October 21, 2009 (Fortune Magazine)
Interesting, isn't it, that a lot of the anti-Toyota publicity is not only coming from its government-owned competitor but from Ron’s unions?
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/21/autos/auto_bailout_rattner.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009102109
http://blogs.courant.com/bob_englehart/2008/11/november-14-2008.html
The reason the stock market goes up when the economic news is bad is because the major investment banks that are the prime movers of equities when the volume is low like the idea of continued low interest rates taking the money from the economy and transferring it to them.
That’s the reason the stock market goes up when Bernanke holds the interest rates down. And guess what’s the reason he holds them down? One of the reasons why he’s holding the interest rates down is that the economy has not recovered! It’s kind of perversely odd how the stock market celebrates the fact that the economy has not recovered.
We’re looking at all this bad news and Wall Street celebrates the bad news because it means Bernanke is going to continue to transfer the money to the financial sector from the economy. That’s what those interest rates are for, so the investment bankers can make a fortune every day, every hour. Actually they don’t even have to buy securities; the machine buys volumes of them, every micro-second…buy-buy, buy-buy-buy-buy-buy-buy-buy-buy-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat…
Mass dislocation is just around the corner.
What do we call 22% real unemployment?
A hiccup?...
JR: It's been this way for a year now. All the low rates, money printing, etc. and the economy really hasn't done shit. But a lot of big boys made some serious cash with those low rates. So of course they're happy to keep them low for infinity. They make more money so when the economy really crashes, they'll be tucked away nicely on an island sipping cocktails and playing golf. It's a great time we live in!
+ 1
It is both amazing and frustrating. Have you ever seen such a Congressional congratulations fest?
Same reason why high unemployment is actually 'good'. If you're quiet, you can just hear the cheers from Wall Street and Banks when bad news comes out. If this powder keg ever gets lit - I'm gonna go vacation in Athens...
They're selling, not buying.
Announcements like this from Bernanke make it easier for exchange insiders to unload stocks on the public who are looking for yields higher than 0%.
For all the gabble about endlessly rising stock prices, the S&P is exactly where it was 4 months ago. That's not an opinion, but a fact.
The point of this meeting?
"...and the need for effective consolidated supervision..."
"It is important that the release occur after a lag that is sufficiently long that investors will not view an institution's use of one of the facilities as a possible indication of ongoing financial problems, thereby undermining market confidence in the institution or discouraging use of any future facility that might become necessary to protect the U.S. economy."
What?
All I read there was, "we want firms to take it on the chin when we unzip our fly. we don't want them to consider their options and if it's really worth it. Providing the public with information found through discovery would provide entirely too much accountability to firms in trouble."
Even if that's not what he meant, the flow of logic goes through like 5 steps to justify this action. that's a whole lot of conditionals that have to happen, considering they are about as accurate at prediction as the weatherman.
Also, "discouraging use of any future facility" precludes us to failure before we have even identified the opportunities for success.
He has just admitted his institution cannot fulfill it's mission. I've never seen a stronger case for the dissolution of the Federal Reserve than this one, straight from the horse's mouth.
TY ladies and gentlemen of ZH for reminding me today was the day for more BS.
I don't get the fascination with Bernanke. Who cares what he is saying or doing??
Good luck trading based on bubble vision and Fed speeches.
One trick pony, overrated Princeton schwang.
sigh..Hes lost it..All the important questions Paul could have,should have, asked about our current "recovery" and hes talking watergate...wtf is going on here? Can we get this deflationary/hyperinflation mega epic holy shit we are screwed crash really cooking already?
RP being held hostage to his son's race,
or the three challengers in his own race?
Establishment still doing their best to tar and feather him,
running him out of town on a rail after winning the CPAC poll...
RP being held hostage to his son's race,
or the three challengers in his own race?
Establishment still doing their best to tar and feather him,
running him out of town on a rail after winning the CPAC poll...
BS said, "forecasting is not easy...", but that is your job BSB! You are supposed to look into what are best interests are, and what that implies is our future.....
"If the government loses it's ability again, the doelarr could weaken thus causing inflation."
"Deflation is not an eminent risk....there are scenarios."
"High ass taxes, but the country will be less productive...." -talking in circles.
"The taxpayer will come out whole." well we fn better!
"5% of the balance sheet ($100 billion) is toxic."
Bernanke is awesome. So is this Turbo Encabulator Chrysler came up with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbVY5teBzlg&feature=related
Our Federal budget = "Our Fudge it".
Man, Freud would have a field day with that one.
New Drinking Game!
Watch an Obama speech on TV and every time that he looks you in the eye and talks to you, you take a drink!!!
Wait... that's not really gonna involve drinking...
I don't think anybody on this entire planet could cram these many lies into that much space.
...and so cavalierly.
No longer read or listen to a single syllable. Why do the rest of you waste your precious moments on this planet doing so?
All that matters is the tape. He's not going to give you any signals that Lord Blankfein, Jamie Dimon and the rest of the Tribe hasn't already positioned
for.
What a severe was of good air time, could be watch olympics instead of this cartoon
Ok come on - it's like none of you realize that he's the smartest man in that room, having saved the economy and all, he really is the smartest man, just ask him
Ron Paul's got a petition to send to your senators for an up-or-down vote of 'Audit the Fed', takes 5 seconds, the form does the sending for you:
http://chooseliberty.org/auditsenate.aspx
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