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Watch Ben Bernanke's Testimony To Congress Live, "Prepared To Respond If Stimulus Needed"
Watch live the first of two official monetary policy testimonies by Ben Bernanke, today being before Congress, and thus Ron Paul, tomorrow before the Senate. Among the critical items to be discussed are the role of fiscal policy, whether there will be QE3, and how (and when) the Fed will proceed with future rate hikes. Mostly, it is expected be a whole lot of hot air. Full text of the report can be read here. The reason everything is surging is because, as predicted, the Chairsatan appears to have just ushered in QE3: "The possibility remains that the recent economic weakness may prove more persistent than expected and that deflationary risks might reemerge, implying a need for additional policy support. The Federal Reserve remains prepared to respond should economic developments indicate that an adjustment of monetary policy would be appropriate."
Key speech highlights:
- Fed's Bernanke says economy could evolve in a way that would warrant move to less accommodative policy
- Fed's Bernanke says given uncertainties about recovery and inflation, Fed remains prepared to adjust stance of policy if appropriate
- Fed's Bernanke says possibility remains that weakness more persistent than expected, deflation risks may return implying need.
- Fed's Bernanke says most recent data attest to continuing weakness of labour market, unemployment rate to decline only gradually
- Fed's Bernanke says recent weaker-than-expected economic performance appears to be the result of temporary factors
- Fed says debt ceiling debate hasn't affected Treasury prices yet
- Fed's Bernanke says inflation has picked up so far this year, but more of recent rise appears likely to be transitory
For those curious, Citi's Steven Englaprovides a backdrop for how FX (which is where the vol and the leverage is, and thus is far more important than stocks) may interpret the testimony:
The Bernanke testimony baseline:
- Growth is sluggish, for reasons that can not be attributer to special factors -- that was the FX market takeaway from yesterday's Minutes
- QE3 not on the radar screen now
- Hikes not on the radar screen now
As we saw yesterday, small and possibly unintended deviations, from expectations of Fed policy can have visible currency effects.
We note in particular that our economists expect Bernanke to indicate a 'somewhat stronger' H2 outlook and unusual uncertainty. Yesterday FX investors saw persistent bearishness on the growth outlook in the Minutes. If Bernanke emphasizes that the Fed still sees growth as bouncing back, even tentatively, some of this pessimism may be unwound. Given that the market does not price fed funds at 50bps until the beginning of 2013, even modest optimism or hawkishness on inflation could trigger some backing up of rates and by implication currency knock-on effect.
The USD downside is if the Fed Chairman 'buys into' the weak payroll data and opens the door to QE3, as the best stimulus option out of a set of bad choices. Given the history of QE2, the initial reaction would be equities positive and USD negative. If he were to open up this door, the major beneficiaries by far would be commodity currencies, AUD, CAD, NOK, and related EM currencies (with possible spillovers into commodity prices themselves).. Given the QE2 experience investors will anticipate more of an impact of nominal asset prices than on real GDP, so the more sensitive the asset is to liquidity, the better it is likely to do.
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Yeah, 'the money is not in the bank like people think it is.' Basically admitting it's a ponzi scheme, and us younger generation is fucked!
Yeah he flat out said the youngers are paying for the olders.
Wonder how the youngers feel about that??
Please someone explain why they think gold is money.
I will let Paul Nathan, courtesy of Lew Rockwell explain this for you -
http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/is-gold-money.html
Gary North could also explain this to you - http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north149.html
I could go on, but I am sure you can google "Is gold money?"
Good points. Even children know gold is money.
All i see is gold has always been money so they go with that and that the radical thinking of the Austrian school dictates that all market partcipants (who are always rational, right??? ;D ) would prefer a gold/silver based system without fractional reserve banking (again, LOL.)
I still would like to know why some people think a gold standard (constricted money supply, especially in the short run) is better overall.
Love it, keep holding that paper buddy!
A constricted money supply is what would limit the ability of governments to get so large that they can strip away the economic and personal liberty of all of those being "governed".
If we were truly taxed for all of the wars and welfare (corporate, special interest, and social), we would not have enough money. The government could literally tax 100% of EVERY man, women, and child’s income and there would STILL not be enough income to support the government largesse. The façade of government tyranny and control hinges on their ability to increase the money supply (fractional reserve banking and Federal Reserve money creation) in order to divert the payment over the long haul (deficits and inflation). Mission creep is to increase the size of government without upsetting the natives.
With a constricted money supply government would have to directly tax the population to support its growth. Remember, government doesn’t create. It can only spend what it first takes from others. 100% tax rate would probably upset the apple cart don’t ya think?
They tellin' you to never worry about the future
They tellin' you to never worry about the torture
They tellin you that you'll never see the horror
Spend it all today and we will bill you tomorrow
Michael Frante – (too bad this musician supported Obama too)
Then an economic slowdown hits and we get a Great Depression.
It's all good because there's no inflation right?? ;D
Deflation via constricted monetary supply FTW!
You have your definitions mixed up. Deflation is the contraction of the money supply, inflation is the expansion of the money supply. A true free market system would see the price of goods go down as greater efficiencies reduce the input costs of manufacturing. Bubbles could not be blown as vicisouly under a contrained money supply.
I encourage you to go all in paper. I have to run now, I have 55 silver ounces that are calling my name at the coin shop that I need to go pick up.
I won't be able to convince you, but that is ok, We all need bag holders of the toilet paper. I wish you luck.
its all good, i just put my money in productive assets (aka high quality equities)
shiny pieces of metal sure are purdy tho!
To be fair, the US (and other nations) experienced "panics" and boom/bubble/bust cycles prior to the abandonment of the gold standard. Running large deficits and rampant inflation, on the other hand, was largely absent, since the lack of fiat currency meant that spending could not outstrip revenues except for short periods (see also Civil War era greenback issuance, etc).
Another really super-fantastic thing about fractional reserve lending is that credit can be (artificially) tightened periodically, creating recessions/depressions, causing a cascade of foreclosures, allowing those at the top to pick up assets for pennies on the dollar. AKA carpetbagging.
Its actually stipulated that Austrian theory contributes more so to fluctuations in the business cycle than does Neoclassical theory.
its a b*tch when the economy tanks and you can't expand the money supply (Great Depression wut????)
And im sure the lower prices from not expanding the money supply will really get investment going (again, Great Depression, wut??)
If prices and wages are upward sticky, its kinda hard to have a gold backed monetary system. Just sayin....
" But the opposition to the gold standard in any form — from a growing number of welfare-state advocates — was prompted by a much subtler insight: the realization that the gold standard is incompatible with chronic deficit spending (the hallmark of the welfare state). Stripped of its academic jargon, the welfare state is nothing more than a mechanism by which governments confiscate the wealth of the productive members of a society to support a wide variety of welfare schemes. A substantial part of the confiscation is effected by taxation. But the welfare statists were quick to recognize that if they wished to retain political power, the amount of taxation had to be limited and they had to resort to programs of massive deficit spending, i.e., they had to borrow money, by issuing government bonds, to finance welfare expenditures on a large scale.
Under a gold standard, the amount of credit that an economy can support is determined by the economy's tangible assets, since every credit instrument is ultimately a claim on some tangible asset. But government bonds are not backed by tangible wealth, only by the government's promise to pay out of future tax revenues, and cannot easily be absorbed by the financial markets. A large volume of new government bonds can be sold to the public only at progressively higher interest rates. Thus, government deficit spending under a gold standard is severely limited. The abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit. They have created paper reserves in the form of government bonds which — through a complex series of steps — the banks accept in place of tangible assets and treat as if they were an actual deposit, i.e., as the equivalent of what was formerly a deposit of gold. The holder of a government bond or of a bank deposit created by paper reserves believes that he has a valid claim on a real asset. But the fact is that there are now more claims outstanding than real assets. The law of supply and demand is not to be conned. As the supply of money (of claims) increases relative to the supply of tangible assets in the economy, prices must eventually rise. Thus the earnings saved by the productive members of the society lose value in terms of goods. When the economy's books are finally balanced, one finds that this loss in value represents the goods purchased by the government for welfare or other purposes with the money proceeds of the government bonds financed by bank credit expansion.
In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold. If everyone decided, for example, to convert all his bank deposits to silver or copper or any other good, and thereafter declined to accept checks as payment for goods, bank deposits would lose their purchasing power and government-created bank credit would be worthless as a claim on goods. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves.
This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard."
Greenspan
Youre watching all of this and still asking why gold standard is better than fractional reserve? Wow. Can you see the forest, or are the trees getting in the way?
gold and silver are in a gallop...........keep talking ben , keep talking.
Ikh hob dikh lieb ........ benny.....
This is pure comedy..
Ron is so smart and gets Bernanke to admit the darnedest things in the ring.
He just upper cut Bernanke by asking him if he thought Gold was money. Bernanke, in a corner, leads with a quick jab - "no".
Ron ducks and mentions gold being money for 6,000 years (I think they call that "a tradition"?)and comes back with a blow to Bernanke's chest and asks, "Why do central banks hold gold?"
Bernanke, squirming on the mat says, "it's an asset".
Ron Paul then goes for the knockout and says, "Why doesn't the Fed hold diamonds?" Bernanke, in a choke hold gasps and says, "Tradition", and the bell rings.
It is also tradition for children to believe that Santa comes to bring gifts to place under trees after being driven there by flying reindeers. Sooner or later, Mr. Fucknanke, you will have to admit there is no Santa Claus - http://www2.whidbey.net/zipmont/revamp/nosanta.htm
...going to sleep. Sorry citizens of USA (and there are many fine such)...you guys are fucked. God Bless
rep al green, a total worthless piece of shit.........
My thoughts, precisely
And The Bernankster thought Al Green was there to sing to him "Let's Stay Together"
You really don't know what you're doing - Bernanke & c.o. World won't forgive you.
QE3 is really hooligan's thing. One problem is commodities price, but speculating on food should be banned. At least by death penalty. One thing is price of PM or electronics or something else people don't really need. But speculating on food is killing esp. for poor countries. By QE3 you'll create revolutions in poor south - Syria, Jordania, Egipt, Tunisia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria etc... By inflation - banks have to increase rates. People won't afford to pay its debts. Will go onto the streets.
This is just because your short-term vision - just income, income, income. Never respect to other man, never think what would be the result of your activity....
Look at wheat and rise price after Shalom's presentation... Eh...
Not hooligans. Psychopaths. Or possibly Darwinists. Who can say for sure? Definitely massively destructive.
I'm in my work's office and I would imagine I would have passed out or done some other thing to embarrass myself on hearing Ben Bernanke say gold was not money.
The video of that part of this testimony will no doubt go viral on YouTube.
The Bernake just told Ron Paul that he doesn't consider gold to be money. Why do we have to watch 5 minutes of someone praising him followed by 5 minutes of legit questioning?
Bernanke will save America by killing millions of people in Africa
"Mr. Chairman, I believe history will be kind to you!"
Benny nearly cried in response.
that last guy left visible kiss marks on bernanke's ass.
lol...i was thinking the same thing
"In part, the recent weaker-than-expected economic performance appears to have been the result of several factors that are likely to be temporary. Notably, the run-up in prices of energy, especially gasoline, and food has reduced consumer purchasing power. In addition, the supply chain disruptions that occurred following the earthquake in Japan caused U.S. motor vehicle producers to sharply curtail assemblies and limited the availability of some models. Looking forward, however, the apparent stabilization in the prices of oil and other commodities should ease the pressure on household budgets, and vehicle manufacturers report that they are making significant progress in overcoming the parts shortages and expect to increase production substantially this summer."
What the F?? So you're telling me that now that food and gas have stabilized at over 60% the cost they were last year, i'll now have lots to spend... without a pay rise?? And overcoming parts and just stuffing inventories doesn't mean anyone is buying anything.... And again... its all transitory right? Get the F out of here...
It's always amazing and comedic to see how many idiots serve on the financial services committee and how their interests dictate their commentary. It's also funny how people actually pretend to believe gold isn't money. The flying circus at its best.
chennai and delhi are on high alert as India rocked by bomb blasts
http://gmbpost.com/politics/red-alert-sounded-in-chennai-and-delhi-after...
Well of course....after all SOMETHING has got to strengthen the dollar prior to the 10 year auction now doesn't it (sarc..../sarc off: I pray for the people of India to be safe and that there is no loss of life)
von Mises said it pretty plainly...not diamonds cuz they're too scarce...Ag and Au cuz they're fungible, malleable, don't corrode, and just scarce enough
I don't know about everyone else but I am having a fantastic day! Here I was sure my July 16 35 SLV calls would expire worthless or at a substantial loss. Boy was I wrong! Thanks Bennie the Bumbling Butthead!!!! Please keep talking and get silver to $50 by Friday!!!!
China will have maximum centenarian
charts
http://gmbpost.com/investment-news/china-to-have-maximum-centenarians/
"If you don't eat yer peas, you can't have any printing. How can you have any printing if you don't eat yer peas."
"pigman, pigman...ha ha charade you are..."
flag as awesome (1)
You! Yes, you behind the treasury offers, stand still laddy!
This dbag just asked Ben if he saw Paul Giamatti in that "show" first it was a movie and 2 what an idiot and waste of time
I am embarrased to be from Colorado....Perlman was an idiot.....why can´t a poltician think and ask direct questions...are they managed that much....
The Bernank can do nothing. To me, it looks like the White House and the Republicans are deliberately trying to solve the problem by trashing the dollar. By devaluing the currency, we automatically become more competitive and China now has a problem. Peg the Yuan to a dollar now worth 1/10th of what it used to be? Doubtful. But what can they do. Suddenly they have a new competitor whose wages match their own, while the dollar denominated holding falls in value similarly. The debt talks aren't about the debt ceilings, which the Republicans happily raised under Bush. They're about containing China.
Those morons couldn't sack a bag of groceries. Contain China? - yeah, good luck with that, just like we contained Afghanistan and Iraq...
Ouch! Quoted for truth.
bombay bombay blast first pictures
http://gmbpost.com/politics/mumbai-bomb-blast-picture/
Holy spit! Is Cleaver really this stupid?
Leave it to Cleaver was on CNBC this morning. The word Austerity in America was captioned.
These policitians make me embarrassed to be an American.
QE to infiniti!
Oh look! Ackerman is wearing the green shoot!
Tra-di-tion.............TRADITION!
Damn, Bernanke as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Who woulda thought? Perfect!
The Nero implications are just too perfect, too.
William Banzai, have at it.
If I were a rich man, da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
and the blood oath and the rubber hitting the fan and the unbalanced checkbook and WOW am I just so very proud of our elected officials. I think we need a giant broom to sweep through Washington.
should we call it testi-lying before Congess? testi-lying, without malice or truthiness, one nation, under a helluva grand delusion, out of money, without jobs, and a security state for all.
It will not be long before the US credit rating is down graded now. I would expect the full faith and credit to be considered under seige thanks to Bernanke and his maniacal ways.
Watch the Comex close today !
It will be a war like no other..............
hour and a half away
Watch it live and in real time here.....and Free !!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.sgxniftydowfutureslive.com/index_files/DOWFUTURES.htm
Wow. Bernanke just lied. Said oil prices were driven up by Libya. Bullshit. They've been going up since QE2 was announced.
you KNOW FOR A FACT THE SPIKE AT 10A WAS BRIAN'S SACK PUTTING IN BETWEEN 20-40billion to offset the poor reaction Benny is going to get.....duh....
bennie is in strong denial...AND WHO THE FUCK REALLY WANTS INFLATION FOR GODS SAKE....HE'S FUCKING NUTS.
you KNOW FOR A FACT THE SPIKE AT 10A WAS BRIAN'S SACK PUTTING IN BETWEEN 20-40billion to offset the poor reaction Benny is going to get.....duh....
bennie is in strong denial...AND WHO THE FUCK REALLY WANTS INFLATION FOR GODS SAKE....HE'S FUCKING NUTS.
Food prices went up due to bad weather and bad crops -- Ben Bernanke
LIAR!
buy one
T- Bill
get one free...
time to dig out those old Canadian coins that people used to dump here in the states? The exchange rate is favourable.
This has nothing to do with The Bernankster printing money, right? Right.
Lie to me Bennie. You make me so hot when you lie to me!
He just stated to the congressman from Michigan that printing money has nothing to do with a loss in dollar purchasing power...
PEAS on you, the congress and the FED,
gold will be $ 5000 as QE 3 fails, bus fire
and hunker, and speculators hide in oil gold silver, and collectibles, as inflation 10%,
and still 15% unemployment structural is it,
as we have a Capital strike vs Marxism,
Peas on the FED, with its dual mandate,
next stop TWILIGHT ZONE,
another $ 3 trillion in printing (its costs Gove nothing neverland of Berflunkie land) and
we have - Interest rates to the banks, who speculate, and foreclosures at 11 Million,
and the Banks, well the Zombi banks copy
Japanation, with Berflunky sqeaking, it works,
i know it works, give me my drugs ill talk faster
and print more, Gold $ 5000...
Oil 200
US of Central Planning = "0"
Peas be with you. Peas on Earth. Gouda wheel. Two men.
If Ben's head exploded right now, I would not be surprised at all.
Something I find interesting is the opinions of the posters at MarketWatch are very close to the opinions of those posting here at ZH. Normally that is not so much the case. Doesn't seem anyone is too keen on further debasement of the dollar.
At some point critical mass will be reached, and confidence lost. It's already cracking, too many straws piled up on the tax donkey's back. When it goes, it will go on its own momentum. My grandfather grew up in Weimar Germany, used to regale me with tails of the wheelbarrow economy. It's coming to America, and soon, if this keeps up.
the bernank is a pig.
Lick it Ben, lick that microphone and tell us there will be QE3. MAKE US WRITE BAD CHECKS! Yeah, that's it you dirty whore!
HE SAID IT.
QE3!
FUCK YOU BEN!
I find both parties disgusting and incompetent.
The Bernank, the Tea-baggers, the Dems ALL SUCK.
I'd say we are citizens of Rome, circa 200 or so.
I'm stunned. I NEVER thought the Fed would institute QE3. They're independent and have no stake in this whole stock market thingy whatsoever.
What makes you think they don't have a stake? Compared to the Feds actual responsibilities, it's a much easier game to rig. Particularly when they have a few trillion of liquidity sloshing around. Employment or housing, not so much.
That's right Ben....we do not give a fuck about your PhD thesis you wrote 32 years ago.
Hey, didya notice we're in a global economy now since you wrote that?
took me over a year to learn that whenever Ben says 'deflation risk' I hear 'it has become too expensive to service our debt so we need to devalue the currency a little bit more.' Man, that's be great if the usd deflated so it wouldn't be $8 for very small package of home-grown bacon (in good 'ol usa :)
This is the last hurrah in risk assets. Asset managers are going to start to panic that The Bernank is just a dumb fk and that QE isnt going to work forever (we know it does more harm than good but asset mangers only care about nominal gains )
You can pretend , you can lie , but when it makes you look like a dumb fk to even the dumb money , its game over.
Man the lifeboats.
By James McKeigue Jun 10, 2011
Controversial financial pundit Jim Rogers has warned US Treasury Bill investors not to trust America's central bank. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to end its second bout of money printing – known as quantitative easing (QE) – later this month.
But Rogers thinks they "will come back with QE3". Of course they "may not call it that," says Rogers. "They may call it cup cakes. Who knows?... But when things get worse they will come back with something."
Yet further money printing would only make things worse, adds Rogers. Speaking to Russian TV network RT, Rogers predicted that Treasury yields will soar (and thus prices tumble) when people realise that the US cannot pay off its debts.
"America is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world… I wouldn't lend money to the US government and I'm an American citizen." Rogers predicts that the bond market will collapse when creditor nations "catch on" and stop lending to the US. "They (China) are starting to cut back (on purchases of T-Bills) and will stop eventually."
That, says Rogers, will cause the US government's interest rates to rocket and further impair the country's ability to repay its debts. Eventually "turmoil" will spread across the financial markets before making its impact on the real economy. "People's shops, factories – everything will be affected."
Rogers' solution is to invest in physical assets like commodities. He believes they will keep their real value longer than government paper.
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/people-in-the-news/guru-watch/g...
omg...what the heck have happened to this guy, he looks tired & fragile...and those eyes, he surely is in some kind of medicines, they should take a doping test of him (epo ben), pumping up stocks seems to be harder than pumping iron at the gym
Jackson Hole II or a bluff?
The foolish go-yeem get der troubles chewed into that tal-moodic sponge mirror -- ejected with a self whimpering, which seems that he cares, but originates from mildest heat at public exposure, a la vampires, but with the zio-media einsatzgruppen waiting for follow-up.. The top of the European/US civilization mind has been out-moralized into $$ soul slavery.
he did say QE3, didn't he? I'm glad I got on the record about three months ago at my job that there's def going to be a QE3. It feels good to be right, don't it ya'll? Let's all try to get our money out of the market before this next round of manipulation collapses everyone's illusions. Accountant believe matter nor money can be neither created nor destroyed, and all actions in fact do have equal & opposite reactions eventually no matter what so we might as well go ahead and default.
Here's Ron Paul's advice Competing Currencies: Defense Against Profligate Gov't Spending
http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1891:...
Wow, never thought I would side with Maxine Waters. We are indeed all fucked. Hell has arrived.
+1 - well, I agreed with some of what she said... but her agenda for asking the question... not so much
the agenda is not important or relevant, the question and non reply stands
on it's own.
Don't expect pearls from swine , just butcher when fat.
the rolling stone card? talf money to connected wall street wives :) this is getting good
what a fuckwad
Does Maxine read Zero Hedge?
delete
haha, Maxine Waters...brilliant as ever...
No obvious agenda, so good for America to have
these folks in positions of power.
oh jeez...I agree with the idiot here...
Sometimes it takes a fool to say or ask what nobody else will dare.
Is deflation being defined here as the natural effects of no free money?
Say what you will about Maxie, but she rips him a new one anytime he comes out
of his hole. I luv how thebernank said he hadn't seen or read the story and
then said it was not acccurate! HAHAHAHAH!!!!! tool./fool.
I don't care if she is a FSA advocate or an out and out commie, at least she has a pair
which is more than 99% of those cretins have or will use.
Oh GOD , NOW the bank shill and clown bachus is advocating for no down mtg
money to help housing. What a dufus, can't someone tranisiton that MOFO
to the next life! Why doesn't he go create some yobs or something?
P.S.
All you laughing at benny for gold no money ....
How many of your Congress clowns would agree?
Why do you vote again?
I wonder just who the joke is on?
It's clear to me that all the players in this farce know the truth; the USA is up Shit Creek. The problem is they think the only one with a paddle that might, maybe, possibly work is Ber-shankie... so they all play along.
Think of it this way, if you had a terminal illness, no known cure, and had only a few days left...and a guy came on TV and said if you let me treat you, you'll be fine: you'd be hopping in the car pronto.
Dats where we's at IMO.
We get the govt we deserve. There isn't a single ONE congress idiot who can ask any intelligent question. The Bernank must laugh his ass off after every hearing. The iidiots trying to ask questions to make themselves sound like they know something, when they are such inept idiots.
Did anyone stick around on CSPAN to listen to Carney? I dunno, I typed a long rant but now I think the best bet (our best bet) is to get out of the business of war. There's a huge opportunity to slim the budget there, I just don't see it any other way for the betterment of the world and especially the US tax payer. Unbelieveable that we'd even mention cutting social security, what a slap in the face. What a sad time for America.
Except for Dr. Ron and Rand Paul, they all " play it the company way;
Wherever the company puts me There I stay.
Excerpt from NIA (National Inflation Assn.):
"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today said that the Federal Reserve is prepared to act with an additional round of quantitative easing if there is any weakening of the U.S. economy and threat of deflation. Bernanke also said that the Fed could act in other ways to stimulate the economy, such as cutting the interest rate that the Fed pays to banks on their $1.5 trillion in excess reserves that they currently keep parked at the Fed. NIA believes this $1.5 trillion alone would multiply into $15 trillion once it circulates through the U.S. economy and if Bernanke on top of that unleashes any additional quantitative easing, it will just about guarantee hyperinflation. Bernanke has made it very clear that he is prepared to print money until the U.S. dollar becomes worthless and the incomes and savings of all U.S. citizens are destroyed. Ron Paul today asked Bernanke whether or not he watches the price of gold and if he thinks gold is money. Although Bernanke admitted that he does watch the price of gold, Bernanke said that gold is not money, but it is only an asset. Bernanke explained that central banks only hold gold as a "tradition". The truth is, gold has been accepted as money throughout all civilizations over periods of thousands of years. Bernanke doesn't want U.S. citizens to wake up and realize that they can opt-out of the criminal Federal Reserve system if they get rid of their U.S. dollars and store all of their wealth in gold and silver. To see a video of Ron Paul's exchange today with Bernanke, simply visit our blog at: http://inflation.us/blog/2011/07/video-of-ron-paul-asking-bernanke-if-gold-is-money/The U.S. Constitution defined gold as legal tender and the current fiat currency system we have today where Bernanke can steal from the purchasing power of the poor and middle-class and redistribute this wealth to his banker friends on Wall Street is unconstitutional, immoral, and illegal. The U.S. dollar originally only had purchasing power because it was backed by gold. Today, the U.S. dollar is a fiat currency that is backed by nothing. Any remaining purchasing power the U.S. dollar still has is just an illusion and will soon evaporate due to Bernanke's actions. In order for an item to function as money, it should be liquid and easily tradable, easily transportable, and durable. It should be divisible into smaller units without destroying its value and should also be fungible, meaning one unit of equal weight must be equivalent to another (which is why diamonds can't be used as money). The item must also be a specific weight, measure, or size, so that it is easy to count. It must be long lasting, durable, and not perishable or subject to decay (which is why food items can't be used as money). Money must be easily recognizable and most importantly, it must be difficult to counterfeit. The U.S. dollar simply isn't real money because Bernanke has been counterfeiting trillions of dollars out of thin air. Money shouldn't require a mark or image to be valuable, but it should just be valuable based on weight and measure. Gold is valuable based on its weight and measure, and fits all of these other qualities and characteristics as well. Never do people explore shipwrecks hoping to discover U.S. dollars, because dollars that Bernanke can print at will even if they could survive the corrosion of the ocean, simply won't have any purchasing power left by the time explorers can locate them. People explore shipwrecks for gold, because it will last underwater for thousands of years and always retain its value. When Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe ordered their central bank to implement exactly the same monetary policies that Bernanke has been ordered to implement here in the U.S., the Zimbabwe dollar became worthless and Zimbabweans were forced to pan their rivers for gold. Citizens of Zimbabwe who were able to find 0.1 gram of gold after a long hard day's work of shifting through thousands of buckets full of mud, were able to take that 0.1 gram of gold and exchange it for a loaf of bread. Those who were too old or weak to pan for gold simply couldn't afford food and starved to death".