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A Reader's Letter To Ben Bernanke
Submitted by TW
Dear Ben:
I don’t know if you read ZH. I bet you do. It would be disappointing to learn that you didn’t read some of the leading edge financial blogs. But if not, I bet at least one of your staffers does. If you’re any kind of manager, they won’t be afraid to bring this to your attention. Or perhaps Ron Paul’s staffers can shoot a copy over to your office. It’s a simple petition, really, in the traditional sense. I hope you will consider it.
I understand the conclusion you came to in 2008 and early 2009 after a career spent studying the Great Depression, and I also understand that you feel justified in using whatever channels are available to you as proxy helicopters to drop cash. And it works. You’ve essentially manipulated the US and world markets as though they were remote control funny-cars, bent to whatever short-term route you desire, though we have yet to see what the second and third-order effects are. I mean, beyond food riots, destabilization of the Middle East, gas prices that American citizens won’t ultimately be able to afford, agriculture prices that will play havoc with corporate margins and retail food prices, the US dollar losing its reserve-currency status… things like that.
Having managed money for a while, with all the implicit strategic and tactical decisions, I also understand thesis drift – where you make a decision based on a set of factors, but then continue the policy, or hold the position, based on new reasoning (excuses) that were not part of the original thought process, even after those factors change. An easy example is when a portfolio manager buys a position based on a chart, then, when the chart breaks and he has a small loss, convinces himself that there are other, fundamental factors (it’s cheap now), which support holding the position until it gets back to even. This usually leads to a larger loss. It’s not the sort of lesson you learn in a classroom.
And so it is with you. I understand how it started – the raw panic that you must have felt over some of those weekends in 2008, after belatedly becoming aware that most of the financial system teetered precariously above a fragile foundation of leverage, artifice, obfuscation, and outright fraud - and how emergency conditions justified extreme action in 2008, as distasteful as it must have been for an economist to allocate the capital of honest savers to those that had, in fact, proved to have been the biggest destroyers of capital. I even understand, though I disagree with, the reasoning beyond your latest tactical success / potential strategic disaster – QE-FOREVER.
And now, on the horizon, I see the thesis drift coming: ‘How,’ you ask yourself, ‘will the US possibly roll all these treasuries, to support the ridiculous politicians’ deficit spending, without me in there as an unnatural source of demand? And, if I don’t keep interfering, day by day and auction by auction, MY GOD, what will happen to the value of the enormous, leveraged debt portfolio that the Fed just purchased at a generational top tick, when the auctions struggle and rates begin to take the fast train up? WHAT HAVE I DONE??’ Late at night, when it’s just you, the ceiling, and the ghosts of the Princeton lunchroom, you must worry: ‘At a 5% 10 year, I’ll have one of the largest paper losses in the history of global finance, and, my own obfuscation aside, sooner or later people will clue in, realize they never pulled a lever for my manifesto, and put my head on a stick!’
But here’s the thing, Ben: the deficit spending that you pay lip service to arguing against, which your current policies support, AND THEREFORE FACILITATE, is a real problem. It’s out of control. There is no solution in sight. And, most importantly, there is no URGENCY for a solution to a problem that is, ultimately, existential in terms of capitalism and free markets because the market has stopped giving us any signal other than the delusion you wish to transmit. The barbarian hordes are on the hill above us, looking down and licking their lips, but you’ve put a mirage of QE –colored camouflage serenity in front of them, so that Americans can look past the spiked battle hammers and chain mail of the aggressor, and the rumblings from the beasts, seeing, instead, great payment terms on a new ninety eight inch flat-screen television. YOU are helping to paper over a problem which needs, instead, to be viewed in stark relief.
The danger needs to be FELT, Ben. It needs to have the same urgency as was owed that 353 plane radar cluster off the coast of Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Markets need to be telling us there is a problem, but, because of you, they can’t. Harnessed to your purpose, they’ve stopped serving the ones that they were meant for, allowing one of the most misguided policy trajectories in the history of mankind, to appear benign and without effect. YOU are forestalling a crisis with a thin veneer of paper-mache over an enormous hole in the path to a secure future, and allowing our elected leaders, who have failed in either understanding or effectively communicating the problems, to diddle and prevaricate. And, ultimately, your fix is not sustainable either, so what will you have saved us from, when it’s finally too late, and the engine’s still coughing, and we’re contemplating the trees instead of the runway?
As a highly regarded economist you must understand that recessions have a cyclical purpose. The lows in the business cycle force capital out of poor decisions and into better uses. The lulls are what convince people that risk is real, and that it must, therefore, be accounted for, even when things feel good. The lows are what teach us that 50x leverage is not a good policy - not when you’re an investment bank, not when you’re a hedge fund, not when you’re The Fed. Not EVER! The lows are when failed policies, and failed policy-makers, are seen for what they are. Families adjust, companies adjust, leadership adjusts, and, ultimately, nations adjust. What, do you think, would have been the result of papering over the policies of a Carter or a Nixon? What if we had just shot enough money into the system that they could destroy our economy, or the lawful fabric of our democracy, without being able to see and respond to the critical warnings that free markets give? The result, Ben, would have been no solution. No re-examination of our democratic principles. No Volcker. No Reagan. No fresh image of the city on the hill. Perhaps no post-cold-war boom.
The inevitable history of nations is that they fail, but not always due to the ill-intentioned acts of a despot or conquering army. They can also fail amidst the well-meaning attempts of empathetic illusionists and well meaning technocrats, who have everyone’s best interests at heart, but must bend the rules of logic and law this one time, and then another, due to circumstances that only they can see clearly enough; circumstances that must be dealt with through policy and procedure that no citizenry, given full understanding of its complexities or ultimate effects, would accept.
Things aren’t working, Ben. In your mind, what’s evidently called for is extra-normal production from the machine that you know how to operate. But that’s not really what we need. What we need is for failing policies to fail. We need blathering idiots to be voted out of office. We need America to wake up to the unfolding tragedy in front of them and feel the raw desperation that is a necessary precursor to change - not the shallow, manipulative change of a narcissistic wordsmith, but the deep fundamental change that requires fear as a catalyst, and that sets up generations of capitalist and democratic success. We need Americans to look up on the hill and say, MY GOD, I think that creature with horns on his helmet has a sword, and he’s pointing it at my children. Maybe I should confront him.
But first, Ben, you have to move the mirage. And get out of the line of fire.
And another reader is kind enough to share his comparable comment to the Fed, submitted on August 3, 2010, together with the Fed's response, which in retrospect, and in light of the Fed's recently announced third mandate looks simply hilarious and painfully disingenuous.
Dear Chairman Bernanke and Fed Board:
I am a centrist voter who supported President Obama but who also believes strongly in the need for fiscal responsibility. While I am not a financial expert, I do have an economics degree and understand fiscal and monetary policy issues better than most citizens.
Yesterday, on Monday, Aug 2nd, I watched the stock market go up over 2% despite a month of bad economic news. Today, there was even more bad news -- existing home sales, factory orders, consumer spending and personal incomes -- and yet the market is down only marginally. In any normal world, the market responds to fundamentals.
Yet, in the United States today it does not. The only reason the stock market (and other asset prices, e.g. housing) are supported at current levels is the perceived near certainty of further Federal Reserve intervention (aka "quantitative easing"). Speculation of further quantitative easing is clearly evident in the financial press (CNBC, WSJ, Bloomberg, etc.), and was exacerbated by Mr. Bullard last week. The Federal Reserve should not -- and ultimately cannot -- prevent markets from reaching equilibrium. This means asset prices must fall to match both declining personal and national incomes, which are the natural consequences of globalization (and misguided US trade policy) on US GDP relative to the rest of the world.
Therefore, the Fed should not manipulate markets in an attempt to make up for: 1) misguided deregulation (i.e. abandonment of Glass-Steagall during the Clinton Admin, made worse under the Bush Admin) 2) irresponsible, bubble-inducing easy money policies by the Fed under Greenspan 3) fiscal irresponsibility by the Congress 4) globalization While quantitative easing may have been necessary in late 2008-early 2009 to stabilize the economy, I am writing to implore you to please stop any discussion of further easing. Please have the courage to follow former Fed Chairman Volcker''s example and let the economy go through a difficult adjustment period so it can have a REAL recovery.
respectfully
And the Fed's reponse:
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
Thank you for your most recent correspondence to Chairman Bernanke and the Board members.
The Chairman and Board members receive a great number of letters daily. As public figures with many daily responsibilities, they are unable to reply to all of those letters personally or to acknowledge receipt of each correspondence. However, they appreciate receiving observations and advice that bear on the Federal Reserve's responsibilities, particularly from people who have concerns about how the economy is functioning.
Also please know that the Federal Reserve's monetary policy actions are not aimed at correcting or influencing any particular market. The goal of monetary policy is to foster conditions conducive to sustaining sound, noninflationary economic growth over time and policymakers must make decisions that provide the greatest benefit overall.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share your views.
Sincerely,
JPD
Board Staff
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Well TW a very well written and articulated piece. I applaud you. What you say is very sound and should have been done initially if it were to be done at all. I tend to agree with the "Too little to late crowd". However I have been sounding the horn like this in Canada for quite some time to all the leaders that will listen that a similar bubble has formed up here in Canadian Real Estate and a few other areas with about as much luck as getting them to take action as I believe you had down here. The central banking head has responded up here in similar jargon to Bernanke's with the policies of what the central bank does (you know to try to keep inflation around the 2% mark) and its mandate and all that other drivnel and of course to stimulate the economy with easy lending policy or shall we cut to the chase and simply say MORE expansion of M3. Our Minister of Finance has openly stated to me that the government will come clean on all its promises, even though like the US we have no prayer of ever paying unless all that I have learned about simply accounting and debt are obsolete?
Of course now that things are truley out of control and Canadians are up to their asses in debt because of loose central bank poilicy (that is 3% Interest or less. Less than 1% up here for over two years) which spurred the cheap money binge by all, now they are beginning to caution people about their debt levels. In other words "we better at least sound a little horn to show we actually warned people so we can defend our actions or blame others", like good politicians do. Think it can't happen up here in sound Canada just watch over the next year or two. It has happened everywhere this policy has been implemented to spur demand that isn't there. People simply use the cheap money to try to make more money by taking foolish risks. Happens every time.
I have to think these jokers have something up their proverbial sleeve as this is so obvious a baby could see that there has reckless policy implemented. Perhaps the new currency regime is not as far off as we may think? If all the western worlds systems are bankrupt then it makes it a lot easier to implement this sort of policy right? I am not a conspiracy theorist but I also know these guys are not where near as dumb or naive as people make them out to be. The next two years should be interesting. Buy Gold.
Markets need to be telling us there is a problem, but, because of you, they can’t.
Bullshit. Markets are just as much to blame if they are riding the Bernanke wave to make money. A lot of people complain about what the FR is doing, but they gladly take the ride and make money on a scenario that is "ruining the country." Complicit greed shares the blame with the originator.
I rather like making money. So do most. A Smithean market puts that interest toward the common good. Bennies market puts it toward looting, whilst leaving the looted unaware of the theft.
But you are happy to make money either way?
As long as I don't engage in fraud, and can look at my face in the mirror, sure. The point isn't MY scrupples but regardless of scrupples. Assume none or limited and build a system that brings about beneficial results regardless.
The problem with any system that does NOT do this, will provide an edge to the unscruppulous that will pull others along.
But, wouldn't it be effective if people stopped making money with the existing financial system, instead of just bitching about it? Of course, my view is that anyone involved in stocks, bonds, currencies, etc., is part of the problem to begin with.
And if the definition of what is or is not fraud can be made 'flexible' with your winnings?
And if you're a sociopath who's fine with whatever shows up in the mirror?
This system which brings about beneficial results...regardless of scruples...is a myth.
GREAT HAMMER OF THOR!
har, if you believe in the system yer a sociopath. i know, i got college.....yer right on snowball
and i do so love it when i hear a cry of reason calling our "system" a myth. you can take it further and ponder if "civilization" is a myth......then ponder early civ/agri- harnessed power- coal - steam - hydrocarbons all the way up to now.......then ponder and cringe what this rock will be like 20 years after "peak collapse" wheneverthefuckthatis.
i digress, dandy statement
What we need is for failing policies to fail. We need blathering idiots to be voted out of office...
I know this may sound revolutionary and possibly even terrorist, but how about returning to constitutional law?
Have our mints punch out and circulate intrinsically valuable coinage, have our treasury issue US notes redeemable in said coinage and banish the fed with their frns completely off shore, 2/3s of them are there already.
To think a sovereign citizenry allowed their temporarily enabled elected officials to abdicate their authority and assign it to a private enterprise to administer monetary jurisdiction of weights, measures and coinage is bewildering.
I could care less about auditing the fed, just boot the suckers off shore! We declared Independence before, let's do it again!
Next.
but how about returning to constitutional law?
The way it is interpreted now, or when it was written?
I sincerely wish we could give you a time-machine so you could travel back 225 years and live in your definition of paradise.
Out of all the websites on the planet, ZH is my favorite.
on my home planet, BernGeitObama, CNBC is my favorite!
+ up too late but lol!
I doubt regurgitating what he already knows will help. I'll go along though and add my simple and singular view. Had the fed simply focused on their primary mandate, that of regulation, and done a decent job of reigning in egregious and dangerous practices the crises would have not occurred. The primary issue is neither monetary or fiscal, it is regulatory. The egregious financial practices must end. That would of course include much of what the fed is doing in the open market.
With all due respect, I think anyone who buys this implicitly pro-Establishment line is dangerously misinformed --- the primary issues are INDEED monetary and fiscal; the regulatory failures are just the icing on the cake. While I am not saying that you personally are or may be doing so here, I do believe this meme is just another piece of the disinformational smokescreen thrown up by the PTB to attempt to blind us from the much more fundamental problems of exponentially rising (and unserviceable) debt, and the impending failure of the worldwide fiat currency system.
yah yah, cut the crap and show me your willie. ok so you in the armagedon camp, why do you possibly think, that the powers in charge, would allow the system to fall apart? for whom? for your academic models that show debt/gdp over 100%??
please get a grip. you can probably go thru time, without zh and internet, where the doomsayers were wrong, despite their 'reason'.
gold hasnt rocketed, its risen. if you were to postulate a scenario 2 yrs ago which would have been utopic for gold, you probably couldnt have come up with the current.
Get it?
THE WORLD CAN ONLY FALL APART ONCE, SO PREDICTING IT HERE IS A ONE IN SIX HUNDRED SIGMA EVENT.
GROW UP!!!
No, of course it could not, as the PTB posess infallible, omnipotent, Godlike powers to perfectly control every aspect of their (and our) world, right?
I guess that is why hyperinflation and currency collapse has never happened, not once, in world history --- because the benelovent and all-knowing Powers prevented it each and every time.
Will they be there to put quarters under my pillow if I rip out all my teeth, too?
do i have to explain everything?? no, tis not godlike, no tis not infallible, but THEY HOLD THE LEVERS, THE PURSE STRINGS, THE ACADEMIA!
Japan had worse indebtedness ratios 20 yrs ago. the problem has been fudged through! so dont waste your time forecasting armmagedon, cos you will be shot, and its in no one interests.
Focus on what the politicians can wrangle, and kick the can.
its less onerous, which is why it will prevail.
Japan still has 200% debt to GDP so stop using the past tense.
Well said those Toshins and Kampo.
now i understand yanks better. they want to vent, they want push the pedal of their SUV"S, but they dont want to listen to an argument of vested interests, and why a "rational implosion" of the $ will not happen.
guzzle baby, guzzle. you have a coffee cup holder. Yeah!
Ben said he can react to inflation in 15 minutes, what a joke. He even can not cure last deflation in Housing Market for 3 years by now, but the side effect of his cure already 'comes around'. The idea of a man can control an economy is non-sense, USSR tried that and failed. Yes, Ron Paul said the Market is even powerful than Fed. If only one policy is ever needed to recover our economy, then it shall be restore a fair market in US: let good stays and fail gone.
Complacent Amurikans will not walk like Egyptians until there is no food on their plates and no money to pay the elec. bill to power the tv to bring 'em entertainment to medicate their droolingly stupid, slack jawed addictitis. I'd bet that if you polled most people entering Mal-Wart, they wouldn't be able to tell you who Ben Bernanke is.
You might be surprised how soon that day comes. There are lots of folks just living right on the edge. The country is in a denial trance that can only last so long. It will only take a spark to set the whole place ablaze
And if I stand at the Tube and ask people to pick J.C. Trichet or even von Rompuy out of a line-up?
Cancel their EBT cards and SNAP benefits and see how long it would take for a public lynching.
"I'd bet that if you polled most people entering Mal-Wart, they wouldn't be able to tell you who Ben Bernanke is."
But they all can vote...kinda of a problem with that whole Dumbocracy deity people worship.
Maybe financial types, conspiracy theorists, bloggers and survivalists should get two votes.
Meh...not worth the time to vote once, let alone twice.
Yeah...know what you mean...me too.
If they did, especially in their own interest (as opposed to being dragged by a nose-ring of some wedge issue like abortion or homosexuals) would we be in this mess?
Abortion for homosexuals?!?!?!?
That's where I draw the line.
Wow, what an ethical dilemma for a true Bible thumper!
ZH is on the forefront for sure. Thanks, Tyler. Thanks, all you other smart cookies who help to illuminate the trail as we descend into the abyss. At least we'll be prepared for what's to come. And with the sharp sword of knowledge we'll be in a position to better defend ourselves and later to help lay the foundations of the world to come.
You're wasting your time, Bens policies are by design not through ignorance.
Good Evening.
I have a theory which is very simple, I would ask the very astute and intelligent ZH community to please respond to;
What if....
They could drive up the price of all assets including equities, PMs, art, "stores of value", etc by making cash unattractive. All intelligent and reasonable people to try and protect their wealth by purchasing "assets" with their financially (purchase power diminishing) cash. At the same time, basic necessities are experiencing inflation so the masses can not accumulate cash since price of everything we need is more expensive.
At a predetermined point in the future if they control the reserve currency and majority of the debt of that reserve currrency, they decide to strengthen the currency (in response to outcry & demands of the US and global community). As long as we DO NOT move to a different monetary standard, then those logical assetholders are asking the FED to deflate the "value" of those assets? That "useless cash" which only a select few have access to would then buy those assets back from the market at a lower price since the currency is stronger.
For those concerned with the Debt: The losses that the sellers of assets will sustain can offset "the imaginary debt" since they own the currency and the debt. They would essentially be Selling High (overpriced assets) and Buying Low (stronger currency allows them to purchase more assets.)
The scenario above is not nefarious, in fact it is very cold and logical and would allow the controller of the reserve currency to retain and consolidate power while appearing to "bow" to the masses.
If that is the plan, then current events make sense.
Deflation would significantly increase the US national debt (owned by the US tax payer). I think the only hope for the current system to survive is to inflate it down in value. I think we will wind up in hyperinflation.
Finally someone gets to some of the nub of the thing here. You have to look at who benefits and why. There are really two things going on. Bernanke is chairman of the Fed. The Fed exists to safeguard the banking system. The Crisis we are still going through is a banking crisis: loans were made and they are not going to be repaid and this happened to such an extent that it overhwelmed the capital backing the system. That in turn threatened the real economy (at least for awhile) and also the pension system. So the banks need some real balance sheet repair. They need to make as much money as they can as quickly as they can. Well the fed can help with that. They can engineer a steep yield curve and let the banks know they can borrow short and lend long as much as they need. That is one thing. The other thing is what you said. The US and indeed the world is saturated with debt. Deflation makes that debt more expensive. So you need inflation. It has been a policy option pursued by highly indebted goveernments throughout history. It is a form of soft default. It does hurt the middle class and the poor. They rationalize that by reasoning that if they let the system collapse, those people would be even worse off. That the well off get even more well off, well that is what it is. They ignore the moral hazard problem. This intitutionalizes the behavior. I do not think Bernanke is evil, by which I mean he is not visiting these eccets on the country for an evil reason. He really believes that because there is excess capaity, there cannot be a real inflation problem. And if there is, he believes he can save the day by setting interest paid on reserves high enough at some point. He believes everyone will be better off. I disagree wholeheartedly, but that does not mean it is evil. It does mean he should be stopped. Naive? Maybe. But I sleep better at night.
Well said. I agree they are mending banks' balance sheets.
I agree as far as it goes. Go ahead Ben, fix the banks, but in the mean time how in the world are $130 Billion in bonuses justified?
I agree we eventually wind up in hyperinflation, but I think one more deflation first. This is very hard to call though, because this is all proceeding to a plan laid out by the oligarchy. They won't let me see the plan, so all I can do is guess. They don't care so much about the banks since they are only tools, as they do about increasing their power. One last deflation as described above would let them further rape a populace financially weakened by inflation for pennies on the dollar.
All this is speculation on my part. I have my money where my mouth is on this, we'll just have to see.
That's a really good theory. I personally think you're right. We should see if we're correct before the end of the year. I have to warn you though, I don't have a great track record on calling this stuff lately.
How many of you have seen the movie, Liar, Liar? Here's that version....
And the Fed's reponse:
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
Thank you for your most recent correspondence to Chairman Bernanke and the Board members.
The Chairman and Board members receive a great number of letters daily and as you have no doubt probably surmised by now, we at the Illuminati controlled Federal Reserve don't really care about real fiscal policy or the sheeple who use our soon to be worthless fiat currency or how it affects their daily lives. On the contrary, our real goal is to run up inflation to the point that food prices escalate and hopefully millions die around the world as a result. We have successfully been at this since 1913 and our planned Great Depression was a mini success in this endeavor.
We have found decidely through action and experiment in the 20th century that wars are insufficient in containing the birthrate of scum like you and your readers and we frankly can't stand sharing the planet with you folks. So we intend to create a crisis hopefully soon through world wide fiat currency destruction so we can finally chip the lot of you and put the majority of you in FEMA camps.
I could tell you more but I digress......
Sincerely,
JPD
Board Staff
After listening to sounds bites of Greenspan over the last 14 months, why would anyone have confidence the current central planner driving the freight train, wont drive it off the rails again?
After all, Ben said "He is 100% confident" and "He can raise rates in 15 mins", but I thought it was interest on reserves that was important? I digress....
Among things Greenspan has said the last 14 months "The Financial System is Broke", "Trickle-down Reaganomics Failed", and "I was wrong."
So, what is he saying today? If you really want to know what the end goal is, and what these guys think of "YOU" the working class, listen from the 4 min mark from 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqx88MyUSck
This interview all sounds good until the 4 min mark when Greenspan takes a huge right turn....thus explaining to the audience "his" version of Austrian economics. Cram down wages, but make you "feel" better, because the caste system you live in will be compressed?
The race to the bottom continues....
.
From the FED response:
"...The goal of monetary policy is to foster conditions conducive to sustaining sound, non-inflationary economic growth..."
*cough*
WOW...that is a hot steaming cow pie if I've ever seen one!
Why not establish a ZH Political Party. Seriously, think about it, It's impossible to win a bout without first stepping in the ring. 1st order of business --bringing back the gold standard. 2nd order of business --disbanding the fed. As the Party branches out into other countries things really begin to get interesting.
ZH.gov
yanks! sigh
Non-Yanks! sigh-sigh
In the eyes of your political and financial elite, a little bit of inflation is healthy.
For one, their earnings will far outpace inflation so it has a minimal impact on their standard of living.
Secondly, and most importantly, it ensures that the hampsters remain glued the treadmill, and are therefore distracted from the high crimes that ultimately lead to their decrease in living standards.
The "dog eat dog" environment of economic chaos also serves to make you spin faster to keep up, produce more; lest you be replaced with someone that will. This natural response helps to keep a little inflation from shifting to hyper inflation--it provides a tailwind to output per hour--which is a condition where TPTB start feeling the pinch.
It also causes you to die early from stress. That way the Gov saves your Social Security payments and your Medicare costs.
Tyler,
In my humble opinion the ideas TW has expressed in his/her open letter to you are well expressed, insightful and important. They need to reach the people we "pull the levers" for.
If you agree I would ask all zerohedge readers to spread the word. How? Please send at least one email containing this letter to the politician of your choice with the subject line "zerohedge open letter to Ben Bernanke".
If some readers have access to other financial publications that can get the word out please contact them.
Many thanks,
Dear Mister Doctor Bernanke,
Please seperate your economic religion from my financial reality.
Thank You,
[Your Name here]
CNBC says catestrophic crash coming.,...
http://dawnwires.com/investment-news/nasdaq-at-a-10-year-high-cnbc-repor...
they have Steve Leisman to spend all day pumping 'happy data' to pretend there's a recovery going on and then some bloody rogue new producer goes and fuks it all up!!
they have Steve Leisman to spend all day pumping 'happy data' to pretend there's a recovery going on and then some bloody rogue new producer goes and fuks it all up!!
It all started when congress exempted itself from the laws it passed. Feudalism was guaranteed from that point on.
benron is just a neck beard, D I C K †
http://www.chrismartenson.com/
Mapping The Fugly Future with David Collum Thursday, February 17, 2011, 9:17 pm, by Adamhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/wake-up-americans-y...
hey don't think you've got any monopoly on going bankrupt, you should see us here in Europe, you've got some serious competition, so there!!
I'm confused. Jim Cramer told me several times on TV that Ben Bernanke is a hero. Why are people mad at him? He shares the green ink and paper with us to make the dollars. How would we get the dollars if he didn't share the ink and paper and computers to make the money. This don't understand this letter. If we don't have the ink and paper to make the dollars we can't go to the Wallmart to buy the i-pod. If you don't have the i-pod you can't listen to the Lady Ga Ga.
And when the Chineses run out of rice, you will see Lady GaGa naked on CNN, trust me.
People are managed by those who they deserve. We should be talking about fiscal responsibility or building USA back in 2000. This ship already got wrecked, first by a hit to control tower(2001), then taking in water to extinguish the fire (2002-2004), and an irresponsible attack to a non-strategic target and consuming rest of the ammunition. Meanwhile, the empire borrowed heavily from its biggest foe to sustain itself. Now, the writer at least gave some credibility to Ben about 08 and 09, which suprised me on this communist manifesto webside. Most writer, back then, wrote many times, and expected the end of the world in 09 than 2010, now they are just annoyed. They dont represent the US public, so it doesn't matter anyway. I was also angry at many things back then, and still I blame Ben for some, but his responsibility in this mess, with respect to Bush, Alan and those, whose sole purpose is to protect a certain tribe at all expense through media and the congress, is less than 1%. If Americans do not get their country back, and make sure their politicians, their media and their banks work only for Americans, the situation will get worse and worse and worse....
response translation:
"the bernank is not programmed to communicate with anyone that does not have a phd in economics, no matter how well articulated your argument. now get back to work, serfs and stop paying attention to what the gnomes are doing behind the curtain."
Bingo.
Very well put.
Correctimundo. Great post.
Ben is starting to feel the heat. His demeanor has changed in recent months. He is showing his arrogent side more often and is starting to get snippy with questioners.
I've seen this reaction many times in business when a person knows they screwed up but keep defending the failed decision. Sorry to say, he'll only get worse as the need to defend gets more intense. Worse yet, its too late for him, personally, to turn back so its damn the iceburgs full speed ahead.
Benny is just such a putz.
US gasoline inventories at 20 year highs.
US gasoline prices at 2 year highs.
Tell me Ben how all those fresh dollars did not contribute to this again?
When leaders know that a fiat will implode, who cares about budgets or fiscal responsibilities. Guess they're banking on the "We didn't see it coming" rhetoric.
/Sarcasm off
The director of IMF, Strauss-Kahn, FED poodle as it's FED financed, has stopped believing in Helicopter Ben's shenanigans. He inferred it in Paris this week-end. That shows you that the consensus within the inner circle of 'happy few' Washingtonites who run the world is cracking. The IMF doesn't get the kind of FED support to his SDR scheme that can pull the Yuan into the holy ring, to get a Yuan revaluation down the road. Ben doesn't want to look down the road. He wants the current system to move to break. He feels the panic stations in Europe and China will be worse in 'deep global shit' breakdown scenario due to rising inflation and then interest rates. USD will once again become refuge money in crisis mode. And QE- Forever become fait accompli.
Keep the world divided in deep shit, buy time for USD hegemony through fear factor, and let inflation rip to make the debt more palatable. Then get the Yuan to up to make the US more competitive. Fuck the chinese economy if it stutters after yuan hike. Ben rules supreme on the $'s coat-tails. May even be able to bring back industrial jobs due to 'fear factor' fall out.
Down side for US : extreme strain/pain for the unhappy 80%. Tough shit. No US cavalry before ten years!
Can this work? I don't have a crystal ball. But the US loves to sabre rattle if the going gets tough. We're talking make or BUST!
So we sell the seeds of another crisis. One moneychanger will hand the baton to another. Old moneychanger will still receive a commission. Winks.
Peasants will be told it's new reform. Oh the irony!!
It all seems to hinge on the devaluation of Americans pay. To bring Manufacturing back to America, Americans have to work for a lot less money.
Ben is trying to fight deflation but when trying to devalue the American Worker to match the workers say in China it will cause defaltion not inflation.
OTE97] On the Edge with Michael Krieger
February 19th, 2011 by stacyherbert . debt goes one way credit goes to the apex predator, armani suit crowd. losses get socialized etc. on a global scale. sdr. all nations sacked at once and for "good". all they have to do is get you to want it bad enough and think that there is no better alternative to giving up on any idea of national sovereignty founded in individual and local autonomy/authority. wait for it ...."Also please know that the Federal Reserve's monetary policy actions are not aimed at correcting or influencing any particular market."
O Rly?
'Bernanke has said he hopes the Fed's bond-buying program will help lift stock prices. In part, that's because lower yields on bonds would cause some people to shift money into stocks.
Higher stock prices would boost the wealth and confidence of individuals and businesses. Spending would rise, lifting incomes, profits and economic growth. Bernanke has referred to this as a "virtuous cycle." '
Bernanke takes defense of Fed to '60 Minutes'BERNANKE = EPIC LIE. EPIC LIAR. PSYCHOPATH.
As per TD's presentation of views of Zoeller of World Bank, as I mentioned above here, the consensus in Washington is breaking up. Zoeller supports Strauss-Kahn's view, as per IMF proposal of increasing Yuan role in promoting new world monetary instrument, SDR, at the expense of USD as declining reserve currency. This is diametrically opposed to Ben's strategy of infinite QE which requires USD to stay pivotal to allow QE-Forever to be possible. The great divide inside Washington is now out in the open. Barak is now dead center inside the US twister...
I guess this is related, i.e. burglaries. Anyone catch this one?
Chilliwack man shaken after home invaders take $750,000 in SILVER
http://www.theprovince.com/cars/Chilliwack+shaken+after+home+invaders+ta...
Bernanke does not realize that everyone is on the bus. If the bus runs out of gas or the tires deflate thru the weight it will be a disaster waiting to happen.
Every Hedge Fund and Bank has piled into all Soft Commodities and Oil creating World Wide price inflation. The fact he does not see it is only because his primary goal is to transfer Americas wealth to the Banks and their respective Principals.
I think Bernankes goal is to transfer all of Americas wealth to the Major Banks and then if there is a default they will have transferred that wealth out of the Country. It is already happening. Just look at the Corporations that have the majority of their cash overseas and will not bring it back into the Untied States. Even Microsoft had to borrow against its cash holdings abroad to pay a dividend. That is outrageous.
Mass starvation? They do not care as long as the Traders and the Banks make a bundel off their trades. That was evident in the released recorded minutes of the Fed meetings. They thought it was really funny when there was any hint of Americans suffering. They joked about it.
You know when the FED is joking and laughing at the Americans desperate situation that the Average American does not stand a chance on their policy's. Their policy's are only for the Rich, the Traders and the Banks.
Bernanke does not realize that everyone is on the bus. If the bus runs out of gas or the tires deflate thru the weight it will be a disaster waiting to happen.
Every Hedge Fund and Bank has piled into all Soft Commodities and Oil creating World Wide price inflation. The fact he does not see it is only because his primary goal is to transfer Americas wealth to the Banks and their respective Principals.
I think Bernankes goal is to transfer all of Americas wealth to the Major Banks and then if there is a default they will have transferred that wealth out of the Country. It is already happening. Just look at the Corporations that have the majority of their cash overseas and will not bring it back into the Untied States. Even Microsoft had to borrow against its cash holdings abroad to pay a dividend. That is outrageous.
Mass starvation? They do not care as long as the Traders and the Banks make a bundel off their trades. That was evident in the released recorded minutes of the Fed meetings. They thought it was really funny when there was any hint of Americans suffering. They joked about it.
You know when the FED is joking and laughing at the Americans desperate situation that the Average American does not stand a chance on their policy's. Their policy's are only for the Rich, the Traders and the Banks.
The most ethical thing to do with these criminal minds is to gather them together and ship them to some far away deserted island, where they can trade their green cotton sheets to kingdom come with each other, and then understand the real stupidity of their ways while they starve.
Time to dust off the guillotine and replace the wooden wheels. It's a long tow to the bank.
Everything Bernanke and the FederalReserve does is intentional, and they know perfectly well they destroyed America long ago, destroyed the USA ~40 years ago, and are destroying the last vestiges of anything good that might slow the complete and final implementation of the USSA that has been their goal.
There is zero possibility they are making mistakes. What they appear to be doing is carrying out a multigenerational revenge of tyrants against a nation that dared assert that individuals are sovereign, not kings and assemblies.
They have succeeded, but let there be no mistake. These cretins are pure, drooling, unadulaterated evil, and their goal is complete and utter domination of all honest, ethical, productive humans. And then their elimination altogether. And then the very, very dark and static ages where they and only they live like humans.
The looting and wealth transfer through various schemes and money-laundering operations... we yearn for justice, and it will eventually be served (if the laws of karma are iron-clad) by the One who engineered the dialating pupil, iris, and lens, connected to mind (as if that ultra high-tech wonder is the result of a mere 14 billion years of random collisions of brainless molecules)... and from what I can tell, the One plays hardball, no doubt capable of delivering an interesting assortment of lengthy tortures to the elite scum. Forgiveness my ass.
You and everyone like you are partly responsible for the vile scum who we both hate. Why? Many reasons, but perhaps the most important two are these.
First, you praise the most complete, extreme and arbitrary possible form of authoritarianism. You believe in the existence of, and the total legitimacy of pure, total, unadulterated authoritarianism of whichever evil fiction you call your god. The notion of ethics, liberty, individualism is the extreme opposite of authoritarianism, all forms of authoritarianism, most certainly including yours. This contradiction in your views has massively aided the evil doers, whether you wanted that or not.
And second, you give the evil doers carte blanche to do whatever they wish, because you or others have denied responsibility to do something about it. Your solution is to wait for some fictional savior to save you and everyone else. The predators love this delusion, for every day you take no personal responsibility to thwart and destroy the predators, those practitioners of evil gain power, strength, influence and dominance.
Actions have consequences. Wishes and rationalizations like yours only serve to prevent you from taking actions that would serve you and other advocates of liberty. But then again, maybe you do not believe in liberty or individualism, maybe you simply advocate a different form of brutal, obscene, intolerant [religious] authoritarianism that you approve or control. Yeah, that's probably it. Religion is insanity, a hyper-authoritarian delusion. See with your own eyes, think with your own brain, and leave others free to follow their own path, as long as they do you no harm. And stop expecting some fictitious mystical white knight to come save you. That will not happen.
Dear TW:
Thanks for writing such an impassioned plea. Beacuse my time with the masses is quite limited, I'll be generous with my responses.
Whether you think my policies are on the right path really isn't the central issue. My policies are working perfectly well for the constituencies I serve.
Now or the rationale for our policies, well, that's just window dressing for the masses. Did you REALLY think QE 2.0 was intended to lower mortgage rates as we stated last August? That rates actually rose by nearly 100 bps was a minor inconvenience (for the masses) that served a greater purpose (for my buddies). We even have a pretty good laugh about QE 1.0-- our "stated" intention for using that (and ZIRP) at the time... was to "spur bank lending". HA! And no one ever brings that up, surprisingly enough.
What we are doing with QE and ZIRP is really very simple, actually. All it amounts to is taking money from the middle class and the poor, and using the proceeds to bolster the balance sheets of our banking friends. Oh yeah, and to help finance government spending that has gone out way of control from our 2nd best consitiuency-- the U.S. Congress.
See, we have a whole lot of confidence in what we're doing, despite being "wrong". Our Congresscritters are happy every time we buy (and frankly, overpay for) freshly minted Treasuries. And just look at what we've done with the banks-- bonuses will even exceed last year's egregious levels. We are simply doing the job that's required of us.
If it makes you feel any better, our efforts to pump up the stock market with all this excess liquidity has been such a success that another 10% of the population feels much wealthier. If only those 10% would start spending and make the rest you spend more money on useless things... well, we'd be out of this mess by now.
Sure, we admit that unemployment is high and underemployment is even higher. And the general level of prices is heating up. We call that "lower standard of living" is these halls, but we dare not say that out in public. This is just an unfortunate side effect that the masses simply must endure. We get a lot of mileage using words like "high unemployment" and "slack", to justify our means, though.
Now, what I find a little surprising is that the masses remain docile after 2 full years of our unadulterated theft from you. But I also must admit that the mainstream media some of you look up to as an "honest broker" of information has been a remarkably resilient team player. Unfortunately, they are not on your team. But they are on mine.
So here's the deal. I'm going to keep on printing to serve my masters. And, if need be, we'll do our best to pretend that core inflation doesn't present a problem. Sure, we'll make up some cock-a-mamie reason for what think we're doing. But that will probably be of the mark as well.
And you-- those poor huddled masses who are being squeezed with stagnant incomes and rising costs of living-- won't do a damn thing about it. You're just too stupid, lazy, and gullible to win this game. Heck, you can't even manage an organized protest within a block of our building. What makes you think you can stop us now?
And WHEN it all goes "wrong"? Well, we at the Federal Reserve and those 525 other members who appear to represent you will simply play the stupid card. I'm sure those who didn't jump ship in the Obama administration will play stupid as well.
Regards,
Ben S. Bernanke
It´s about time to get rid off Ben Bernanke. It´s time for Ron Paul. It´s time for John Boehner. Obama´s economic policies have failed tremendously. Uprises in several Middle Eastern and African countries are a DIRECT RESULT of FED policies. Take a look at PIMCO´s El Erian response to Bernanke´s speech in Paris a couple of days ago:
http://tilt.ft.com/#!posts/2011-02/13731/mr-chairman-emerging-economies-do-not-share-your-view
That´s a desastrous conclusion of El Erian confronting Ben´s policies at its heart! We should all APPEAL IMMEDIATELY to all Senators in Congress and the House to STOP this MADNESS! The consequenses can be seen in Egypt, Tunesia, Bahrain, Lybia!
I am really AFRAID of what storm is brewing!
Simple cure -
A nice Guillotine - https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_rnN3mbqgIJ0/TM3yHNGvmpI/AAAAAAAAAG4/v...
decanted archive.