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A Hurt Ben Bernanke Explains That He Is Not Responsible For Record Inequality, Epic Hilarity Ensues

Tyler Durden's picture




 

One might be predisposed to thinking that monetary policies aimed explicitly at inflating prices for the assets most likely to be concentrated in the hands of the wealthy would have a high likelihood of exacerbating the wealth divide, especially when those policies are carried out over the course of nearly 7 years and to the tune of trillions of dollars. 

Not so, says Ben Bernanke. 

Bernanke took a break today from advising PIMCO and, let us not forget, the world’s most levered hedge fund, Citadel, to put his ‘Blogger Ben’ cap back on and explain why, in fact, QE did not disproportionately benefit the rich. 

Bernanke starts by conceding that QE inflates asset prices (phew, there for a second we thought reality was going to be completely suspended). However, Bernanke notes that poor people have been getting poorer for a long, long time, so sure, maybe the Fed contributed a little bit, but probably not a whole lot:

First, widening inequality is a very long-term trend, one that has been decades in the making. The degree of inequality we see today is primarily the result of deep structural changes in our economy that have taken place over many years, including globalization, technological progress, demographic trends, and institutional change in the labor market and elsewhere. By comparison to the influence of these long-term factors, the effects of monetary policy on inequality are almost certainly modest and transient.

Got that? Next, Bernanke falls back on the old Keynesian go-to: the smoothing of economic cycles. 

Second, monetary policy, if properly managed, promotes greater economic stability and prosperity for the economy as a whole, by mitigating the effects of recessions on the labor market and keeping inflation low and stable. 

Yes, “greater economic stability”, much like that promoted by Bernanke’s predecessor whose policies created what was perhaps the most dramatic boom and bust in the history of financial markets. He continues…

Perhaps most important, easier monetary policies promote job creation as well as increases in asset prices. A stronger labor market—more jobs at better wages—obviously benefits the middle class, and it is the best weapon we have against poverty.

We needn’t spend too much time on this ridiculous point because as we’ve shown time and again, the “stronger labor market” is a BLS fabrication which vanishes workers in order to produce goalseeked jobs prints and as for wage growth — there is none. At least not for the 80% of US workers classified by the BLS as "non-supervisors."

Stock prices have risen rapidly over the past six years or so, but they were also severely depressed during and just after the financial crisis. Arguably, the Fed's actions have not led to permanent increases in stock prices, but instead have returned them to trend. 

Ok, you've got us there Ben, the Fed's goal was certainly to get stocks back to trend. Thanks for conceding that point.

Finally, Bernanke patiently explains that the idea of ZIRP punishing savers is nonsensical because after all, poor people don’t have savings, so if anyone is getting hurt by lower rates, it’s the rich.

Interestingly, some of the same critics who say that the Fed's policies disproportionately help the wealthy also claim that they "hurt savers" by lowering rates of return. Since the wealthy tend to be savers, and the middle class and poor tend to be borrowers, the assertions that Fed policy helps the wealthy and hurts savers cannot generally both be true.

We would point Blogger Ben to a recent paper by the St. Louis Fed itself (some audacity to contribute to inequality and then write a paper proving what you did, but at least they're honest about it) which shows that in fact, the income divide as certainly grown in the post-crisis years and the widening gap is almost certainly in large part due to Fed policy. In case you do not want to read the entire paper Ben, our summary is here.

Incidentally, even the 'very serious' people now acknowledge that the emperor is naked, but as this latest set of ruminations from Bernanke proves, conditions on the ground never stopped anyone in an Ivory Tower from pontificating.

 

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Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:23 | 6152453 Hippocratic Oaf
Hippocratic Oaf's picture

Die in a fire, bernanke

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:28 | 6152477 remain calm
remain calm's picture

Will someone beat this man like a seal, please.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:33 | 6152511 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

Awwww, the poor little feller. Someone must have sent him a link to some WB7 artwork.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:35 | 6152517 Gaius Frakkin' ...
Gaius Frakkin' Baltar's picture

“Since the wealthy tend to be savers, and the middle class and poor tend to be borrowers, the assertions that Fed policy helps the wealthy and hurts savers cannot generally both be true.”

They are borrowers because you never let asset prices decline you piece of filth.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:37 | 6152531 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Tell it to the Warden and your fellow inmates, Ben Shalom.

I'm sure they will all be innocent too.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:42 | 6152548 BaBaBouy
BaBaBouy's picture

He Needs A SHAVE Really Really Bad...
Shave That Grey Bush, Ben...

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:45 | 6152562 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

“... Perhaps most important, easier monetary policies promote job creation as well as increases in asset prices. ...”

 

There you have the root of the money printer's lie – printing money can create real wealth.

It can't.

They are snake oil salesmen and they are destroying our societies

They will cause famine and death.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:53 | 6152576 nope-1004
nope-1004's picture

Bearded LIAR, filthy, piece of trash.  The USD will collapse under the weight of YOUR debauchery.

Makes for a nice epitaph, anyway.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:57 | 6152617 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Seriously, we know they are not dumb. Therefore they must be THAT wicked.

What kind of tessaracted piece of gobbledygook statement is that thing about social mobility and priorities.

If the talmud is your operating manual and the Kol Nidre as their catch-all get-outta-Yah's Jail card....

"All vows, obligations, oaths or anathemas, pledges of all names, which we have vowed, sworn, devoted, or bound ourselves to, from this day of atonement, until the next day of atonement (whose arrival we hope for in happiness) we repent, aforehand, of them all, they shall all be deemed absolved, forgiven, annulled, void and made of no effect; they shall not be binding, nor have any power; the vows shall not be reckoned as vows, the obligations shall not be obligatory, nor the oaths considered as oaths."

What are we to expect?

 

No better...

 

All out real freedoms are inside us. We too are living tessaracted lives...

 

Inside out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1TSBW_368

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:57 | 6152860 r00t61
r00t61's picture

It sounds like Bernokio needs to get his story straight, especially in light of former FRB official Andrew Huszar declaring that QE was nothing more than "...a feast for Wall Street."

Confessions of a Quantitative Easer:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-12/former-fed-quantitative-easer-c...

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:48 | 6153065 greenskeeper carl
greenskeeper carl's picture

 

First, widening inequality is a very long-term trend, one that has been decades in the making. The degree of inequality we see today is primarily the result of deep structural changes in our economy that have taken place over many years

 

Well, zerohedgers, we gotta give him credit here, he is correct. it has been going on for several decades. I'd say it really got its start in he early 70s, so thats several decades, so, despite his best effort, he actually did say something honest and true. Don't have to tell anyone here what got all this started in the early 70s...

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:25 | 6153193 Beam Me Up Scotty
Beam Me Up Scotty's picture

Since the early 1970's eh?  Didn't we go totally off the gold and silver standard in the "early 70's??"

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:59 | 6153463 Ying-Yang
Ying-Yang's picture

Please pardon my off topic comment...

I love ZH like a brother but...

Lately, I catch breaking news on MSN and jump home to ZH to see what the brothers think, what really is breaking news or BS.

Is ZH slowing down on the quick draw?

A good example is the GAO testing TSA security at airports. TSA failed 95% of the time detecting bombs. The fuckers failed to catch 67 of 70 bombs!

I want some butts! We need to figure out a way to get the asswipes fired.

Sorry Tylers, we need to do better.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 19:37 | 6153572 espirit
espirit's picture

Butt hurt Ben Bernank?

Enjoy it until the guillotine arrives.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 20:05 | 6153649 ceilidh_trail
ceilidh_trail's picture

So all of that wasted time and insult to dignity/freedom and it doesn't work? Who'd of guessed?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:36 | 6152763 saveUSsavers
saveUSsavers's picture

TRACE BERNANKE'S POLICY ******DIRECTLY******* to Tunisian 1st Arab "Spring" CAUSED BY HIS FUCKING FOOD PRICES speculation inflation. Yea, weather was a factor, MINOR.

He should be tried for War Crimes, Crimes vs Humanity

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 19:24 | 6153538 DerdyBulls
DerdyBulls's picture

"The wealty don't borrow..."? What the... ? They benefit the most from borrowing. They are closest to the source.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:03 | 6152879 Antifaschistische
Antifaschistische's picture

So....let's just pick one stock for example.

The $32 Billion Dollars that Oracle ORCL has in debt....which they absolutely damn sure would NOT have if it were not for artificially depressed interest rates.

And their $13 Billion Dollar stock buyback program designed to keep ORCL share prices inflated (yes, there's a little opinion there)

...and the fact that Larry Ellison has made so damn much money recently he bought an entire Hawaiian Island...

...this has nothing at all to do with Ben's artificially depressed interest rates!!!!

...the buyback program IS abso-damn-lutely being funded with debt!!   And there's NO WAY IN HELL ORCL would borrow money at a TRUE market rate to buyback their overpriced stock.   The ONLY way it makes financial sense is to use ARTIFICIALLY (THANK YOU BEN) DEPRESSED INTEREST RATE DEBT to fund their buyback!!

ps...not picking on ORCL...except for the fact that I hate Larry for having his own damn Hawaiian Island.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:29 | 6153206 Beam Me Up Scotty
Beam Me Up Scotty's picture

Well, just to continue to put things into perspective:

Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are each worth more than 70 BILLION dollars.  A so called "rich" person, making a million dollars a year, would take over 70,000 years to get to their net worth.  Just to put things into perspective.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:47 | 6152577 BaBaBouy
BaBaBouy's picture

Come On Guys... Shalom Single Handedly Saved The ENTIRE PLANET From The Banksters!!!
He Then Made Them Rich Too...

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:01 | 6152632 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Well done Baba, you have just created a new weapon in the arsnel of establishment tool public bashing:

THE SARCIRONY!

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:44 | 6153258 Beam Me Up Scotty
Beam Me Up Scotty's picture

He didn't save the planet "FROM" the banksters.  He saved THE BANKSTERS!!

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:47 | 6152578 usednabused
usednabused's picture

Put simply he's a fucking thief as was his predescesor Greenspan and his sucessor Yellen.

Just how much fucking money did they cost people due to highly inflated commodity and asset prices when they should have been deflated instead?

Jails too good for all 3 of those fuckers. Kill them now

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:55 | 6152610 Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs's picture

Gold and silver "highly inflated"?

I think you have it exactly backwards.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:03 | 6152640 usednabused
usednabused's picture

I guess you don't bother yourself going to grocery stores do you? Fucking hamburger at $6 a lb vs $2 in 08. Milk at $4.50 vs $2 in 08. And the list goes on. How about automobiles? Same vehicle up 40% since 08. And the list goes on. Take your gold and shove it up your ass and you might get your inflation.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:33 | 6152751 Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights's picture

Man do you loook like a fuck'en dope lol....

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:59 | 6152866 Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs's picture

LOL. I didn't say anything about inflation (which I would agree with him) yet he rips me about inflation in food prices?

He is a dope. Obviously he has no idea wtf is going on in gold and silver.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:43 | 6153039 usednabused
usednabused's picture

I would classify you as the fucking dope, rather a genuine dumb fuck or disinformation artist.

Gold this month in 08 averaged 889 per oz. same month in 2015 its over 1200. So wheres your deflation? Stuped fuckers.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:46 | 6153260 Beam Me Up Scotty
Beam Me Up Scotty's picture

Usednabused:  Gold and silver didn't cause food and automobile prices to skyrocket.  Dollar printing did.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 19:47 | 6153607 Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs's picture

Apparently he doesn't seem to understand much of anything concerning inflation, deflation and money printing.

Might as well be talking to a fuckan bowling ball.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:37 | 6152768 saveUSsavers
saveUSsavers's picture

X 10 !

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:00 | 6152629 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

This guy needs an ISIS shave.  One blade drawn across his neck.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:27 | 6152729 eclectic syncretist
eclectic syncretist's picture

Bernanke deserves a beatdown with a baseball bat ala The Ramones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj7h9VPEL9E

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:42 | 6152799 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

I'm waiting for the Committee on Citizens for a Just America to give him a fair trial ... then hang 'm!

 

In fact, they can save a place nect to him for Greenspin.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:43 | 6153045 Achilles Heel
Achilles Heel's picture

You're not allowed to question these jews who are doing 'GOD'S WORK'

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:47 | 6153266 Beam Me Up Scotty
Beam Me Up Scotty's picture

"This guy needs an ISIS shave.  One blade drawn across his neck."

I thought it was a Columbian necktie:

Cut the neck ear to ear, and let the tongue hang down thru the slit.

I think I saw that in a James Bond movie.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:07 | 6153314 Achilles Heel
Achilles Heel's picture

Or 'The Black Dahlia'

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:32 | 6153389 razorthin
razorthin's picture

That hollow head will shatter like a chocolate bunny.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:06 | 6152647 JamesH
JamesH's picture

Even he doesn't deserve to get that close to Yellen. Does he?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:59 | 6153103 Dig Deeper1
Dig Deeper1's picture

SHe Needs A SHAVE Really Really Bad...
Shave That Grey Bush, Jan...

 

fixed it for ya

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:51 | 6153271 Baldrick
Baldrick's picture

hell no! leave his prison pussy on, he's gonne need it.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:09 | 6152653 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

“Since the wealthy tend to be savers, and the middle class and poor tend to be borrowers, the assertions that Fed policy helps the wealthy and hurts savers cannot generally both be true.”

It's stupid to lump all borrowers together as if there is no difference. Look at the borrowers he "helped" that were underwater and couldn't afford their homes. They all lost them anyway, because it was a solvency issue, not a liquidity issue.

And he can argue that they helped new borrowers, but the inflation in assets nullifies those gains anyway. Ultimately the payments are likely a net push.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:53 | 6152831 Marco
Marco's picture

How would my house with mortgage depreciating help me at all? You guys look at this from the point of view of the good guys, the little people who don't go into debt. You have to admit though, the good guys are completely fucking irrelevant to wealth inequality, cause there aren't enough of them. You have the stupidly rich who save and the stupid poor who go into debt. These are the group who matter to the averages and the medians.

Ultimately it's fiscal policy and value of uneducated labour which determines wealth inequality ... monetary policy is a side show, mostly meant to keep governments in office (if US/EU governments had been forced to be fiscally responsible through monetary policy we would  have had massive depressions and a merry go round of governments ... maybe it would have been over by now and we would have had vigorous growth, or maybe we would have had WW3).

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:42 | 6153037 bbq on whitehou...
bbq on whitehouse lawn's picture

You cant change the laws of nature. You can only delay them with force. Changeing the rules, laws and expectations creates chaos and disorder. That is your WW3, the end of reason, nature, and rule of law infavor of tyranny and chaos.
You seem to believe this is a good thing.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:11 | 6153333 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

JFC, the stupidly rich don't have savings accounts, they put their money into assets, the assets that are boosted. The rich don't have fucking savings accounts. You are totally and completely wrong in every way.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:24 | 6153370 JR
JR's picture

It’s easy to see that Bernanke is right: Wall Street and the equities market have suffered the greatest declines in recent memory while savers and retirees, flushed with their new Bernanke-created wealth, are driving the GDP up every quarter.

It is not anti-Semitic to say that Bernanke’s policies have been directed at the destruction of markets, the contract society, and America’s white middle class European goyim society which depended on its savings as the product of its labor and for security in its old age.

Swiss Re came up with a ball park loss of $470 billion by savers looking at rates from 2008 to 2013, claiming had the Fed followed a policy based on the Taylor Rule — the Fed funds target would have been 1.7 percentage points higher on average. Even that falls way sort of the purchasing power savings have lost under Bernanke's punishment.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:44 | 6152532 Captain Debtcrash
Captain Debtcrash's picture

Of course he’s responsible. He bid up the assets mainly held by the rich with newly created money.  Where does he think the value of that money comes from? If he bid up the price of commemoratives plates, and couch cushion treasures than he would have an argument he helped the poor, but he bid up financial assets along with other central banks. If Thomas Piketty and Bernanke would like to determine the reason for increasing wealth inequality, he may want to look at the central banks handing money to the rich before an inherent flaw in capitalism, r<g. 

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:32 | 6153216 SilverFish
SilverFish's picture

I just want his coat. You can keep the rest.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:33 | 6153391 Stoploss
Stoploss's picture

You remember this Ben???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi32WvoRgU4

Listen close now...

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:29 | 6152486 junction
junction's picture

Ben had stop OD'ing on SSRIs, his comments on borderline economic insanity (from across the border).  ZIRP has wiped out middle class earnings from interest income and ruined the retirement income of millions who depended on interest being paid on their savings. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:30 | 6152489 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Euthanize this fuck. Clearly he is suffering...............................from something

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:33 | 6152513 J S Bach
J S Bach's picture

Is a jew ever to blame -- for anything?!  Or is that question anti-semitic?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:39 | 6152537 Usurious
Usurious's picture

leave him alone.............he is a fucking VICTIM

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:44 | 6152560 Fun Facts
Fun Facts's picture

funny how the perpetual victims are fucking everyone else over

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:14 | 6152676 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

Just ask yourself, who have been the perpetual "victims" throughout history?

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/expelled.htm

Makes you wonder why, or do they bring it on themselves through their own actions.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:27 | 6153199 chunga
chunga's picture

Anybody who claims to not see what's going on can't be taken seriously. It's absurd and ridiculous.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:56 | 6153465 reTARD
reTARD's picture

Oh no!!! You can't blame the Joo! ;-)

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:43 | 6152557 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

No.  And Yes.

 

Shalom -

 

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:38 | 6153021 mvsjcl
mvsjcl's picture

Aloha.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 19:32 | 6153559 Achilles Heel
Achilles Heel's picture

Is a jew ever to blame -- for anything?!  Or is that question anti-semitic?

 

The answer to your question, on ZH, apparently, is that it's 'anti semitic' to ask that question.

The 'testimonial' list to that (concurrently) is:

 

Potemkin Village Idiot

francis_sawyer

Hy Brasilian

Richard Parker

Vespasian

GET.OFF.MY.LAWN.

Ow My Balls

Romney Wordsworth

Thirst Mutilator

AIIB

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:35 | 6152519 Lady Jessica
Lady Jessica's picture

Paul Singer called it "immodesty".  

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:41 | 6152545 firstdivision
firstdivision's picture

"but instead have returned them to trend."

 

What fucking trend are you looking at Ben?  I see no trend here, unless you count "how steep can we make the curve" game a trend.

https://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=ES&p=m1

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:42 | 6152549 drendebe10
drendebe10's picture

It's Bush's fault...

Progressive liberal democraps always have to blame some one else - anybody but themsleves.....  look at what their bullshit progressive liberal democrap policies did for Deathtroit and Baltimorefreebes and do they acnowledge any responsibility for the demise of those two once great cities???  ....  the concept of personal responsibility for the outcomes of their actions is completely foreign to them.....

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:52 | 6152599 Trogdor
Trogdor's picture

Die in a fire, bernanke

I dunno, man - I want to see him get testicular, colon, and pancreatic cancer and be subjected to the full force of the medical-industrial complex's phalanx of radiation and poison - let him experience what is known as "liquid death" by anyone who's gone through it THEN he can die.  A fire is too damn fast for this piece of shite.

Alternatively, tying his ankles to the bumper of a truck and heading off on a circuitous 1000 mile trip on Illinois' glorious highway system at, say, 5mph would work, too.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:15 | 6152682 dcohen
dcohen's picture

Burn Nanke

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:19 | 6153352 No.Fifth.Turning
No.Fifth.Turning's picture

Ben should take up mountain tricycling.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:28 | 6153378 sgt_doom
sgt_doom's picture

Bernanke and the other disinformation specialists long have tried to foist the meme on the citizenry that nobody really knows the cause of the Great Depression:  when just before the Great Crash of 1929, they were moving to impeach the Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon who held that position across three administrations, because they damn well knew his policies had much to do with it!

Nobody is fooled this time either!

Recommended reading:

The New Prophets of Capital, by Nicole Aschoff

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 19:35 | 6153570 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 20:33 | 6153727 SubjectivObject
SubjectivObject's picture

_"Die in a fire, bernanke"

That's not Right!

"Live with third degree burns over 100% of your body, ...."

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:23 | 6152454 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

STFU and die, Bernankster.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:31 | 6153385 sgt_doom
sgt_doom's picture

Is Bernanke behind the Canary Mission (along with Clarice Feldman)?

http://www.canarymission.org/

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 19:39 | 6153580 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:24 | 6152458 CarpetShag
Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:26 | 6152471 ZeroPower
ZeroPower's picture

You're an idiot, how is that anything close to ass-kissing. You did see Peter Schiff with him as well right? Or does that count as something else in your books?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:48 | 6152580 CarpetShag
CarpetShag's picture

If you would take the trouble to follow Ricktards's Twitter feed, which is composed in the majority of sycophantic adulation from his worshippers, you would have read about his private lunch with Bernwanker and the 5 pages of notes he will divulge in "due course" .
If you want to know what Rickards really is, read the initial chapters of both of his books.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:42 | 6152547 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

Jim Willie was right about Rickards...  If he was really letting on to important matters, a 3-letter agency would have disappeared him a long time ago.

 

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:50 | 6152589 CarpetShag
CarpetShag's picture

Rickards is grooming himself for a seat in tne NWO.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:44 | 6152564 koreangold
koreangold's picture

I was surprised at the attack Ricards recieved from Jim Willie this week. He sees him as simply a lying Shril, nothing more. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:49 | 6152583 CarpetShag
CarpetShag's picture

Read the chapter on 9/11 in "Death of Money"

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:50 | 6152590 usednabused
usednabused's picture

He sees him as such because he is such

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:33 | 6152750 eclectic syncretist
eclectic syncretist's picture

Jealousy amongst doom-mongers is all it is.  Jimmie boy can't stand that Rickards is making more money selling doom porn than he is, especially when he's been doing it longer.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:10 | 6152909 Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs's picture

You don't know much about Rickards then and even less about Dr. Jim Willie.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:29 | 6153380 sgt_doom
sgt_doom's picture

Rickards?  The clown who put together that $1 billion credit default swap at LTCM, which had to be bailed out before it crashed the global economy?

Good to see him finally doing something productive for a change!

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:26 | 6152459 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

What else has he got but "It wasn't me"?

Evil asshat.

Everyone else in the establishment is telling bald faced lies so why would he be an exception?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:32 | 6152499 BraveSirRobin
BraveSirRobin's picture

Well, he's not solely responsible, anyway. We can also blame the progressive tax codes that takes away a person's savings so they cannot accumulate capital to start or invest ina business, crony capitalist regulations designed to keep out competitors by increasing business complexity and cost and a failing educational system that seems designed to stupify the masses and enslave them to banking interests.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:41 | 6152543 Bollixed
Bollixed's picture

How does that comment get down voted? Apparently at least one entity with the IQ of three pound dirt clod reads ZH.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 10:20 | 6153472 messymerry
messymerry's picture

<  It was a public servant that downvoted Brave Brave Sir Robin

<  It was not a public servant that downvoted Brave Brave Sir Robin

 

;-D 

Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caedite_eos._Novit_enim_Dominus_qui_sunt_e...

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:33 | 6152514 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Fairies and unicorns dancing in the moonlight.....

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:30 | 6152462 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

The top 0.1% have more wealth than the bottom 90% now in the land of the free.  Of course, the Fed had nothing to do with that.

Fake economic statistics and Fed intervention in all markets have ensured free, fair and equitable markets in the US:

Inaccurate Statistics And The Threat To Bonds

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-29/inaccurate-statistics-and-threa...

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:43 | 6152558 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

I'd like to jump up and down on the head of the snide bastard who downed you.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:33 | 6152466 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

I wish I was judged based only on my stated intentions, too.  Sadly, most of us are relegated to a life where we are judged based on our RESULTS.  If you're a Wall Streeter, you probably love this guy.  The rest of us are justified in telling him to eat a bag of dicks.  

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:46 | 6152567 N2OJoe
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I wish I could believe that the smartest man in the FED had good intentions and was just totally and utterly incompetent and accidentally managed the exact opposite outcome of what he intended.

That fantasy would make me feel muuuuch better about being boned by him and his cronies...

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:52 | 6152598 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

That's why I said STATED intentions.  But even if it was actual intentions, nothing would change.  Wall Streeters would still love him and the rest of us would still tell him to eat a bag of dicks, just with more passion and feeling behind it.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:26 | 6152469 Glass Seagull
Glass Seagull's picture

 

 

Do they really need all of those PhDs in order to BTFD?

 

Could really save some SG&A expenses at the Fed.

 

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:12 | 6153335 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

Ya gotta wallpaper the facade with something. Otherwise, mere mortals might be tempted to challenge the priests on high, while other mere mortals note which side is more rational.

PhDs though? They render those us mere mortals into dirty "untouchables" who are simply unable to understand their intricate theories.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:26 | 6152470 remain calm
remain calm's picture

Suck my dick Ben

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:26 | 6152472 Osmium
Osmium's picture

I can only hope there is a special place in hell for these ck skrs.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:27 | 6152474 Caveman93
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He must have forgot we were fighting a war on poverty. Definitely fixed it though for about .0001% of the population. Nice work asshat.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:27 | 6152475 Joebloinvestor
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I thought it was Bill who was showing signs of dementia.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:28 | 6152478 Which is worse ...
Which is worse - bankers or terrorists's picture

I wonder if Ben is on www.stiiffs.com

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:28 | 6152479 Quinvarius
Quinvarius's picture

Did he actually just say the wealthy are not generally borrowers?  Seriously?  Wow. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:40 | 6152788 large_wooden_badger
large_wooden_badger's picture

No, because the banks don't borrow, the FED just gives them free money created out of thin air and electronic digits that they can either sit on or spend at their leisure, or even better, lend it out to us poor folks for a tidy profit.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:28 | 6152480 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

He's so obviously wrong. Does anyong believe this bullshit?

Let's start calling it what it used to be called: trickle down economics. Fucking voodoo economics. Inflating asset prices pushes money into the hands of the wealthy, and what comes out is essentially nothing but low-wage service jobs.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:30 | 6152493 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

He believes it.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:30 | 6152481 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:30 | 6152490 SillySalesmanQu...
SillySalesmanQuestion's picture

May you die an agonizing, slow death you pissy, pontificating prick. Just choke to death on your next meal. Die you asshole! Fuck off you pompous pretender. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:30 | 6152491 inevitablecollapse
inevitablecollapse's picture

i hope a bear eats you ben, then shits you out and a seagull eats the shit of the bear that ate you and then shits that shit out

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:37 | 6152772 Caleb Abell
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And that would complete the circle of life, because Ben would then be back to where he started.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:37 | 6152775 large_wooden_badger
large_wooden_badger's picture

BCOTD = Best Comment of the Day

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:51 | 6152846 inevitablecollapse
inevitablecollapse's picture

guess i should have included a diagram or infographic for the down-voter...

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 06:34 | 6154665 goldenbuddha454
goldenbuddha454's picture

So, how do you really feel?  I think you need to be more expressive.  Holding in your feelings can be bad for your heart.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:38 | 6152496 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Sounds like the Bernank is a little butt hurt because he knows it's true. In other news It appears the the MSM is preparing us for a ground invasion in Iraq thanks to ISIS/ISIS/IS....ahem.....AL-CIA-DUH, and their evil beard patrols in Mosul:   

Men brace for 'beard patrols' in Iraq's IS-held Mosul

 

http://news.yahoo.com/men-brace-beard-patrols-iraqs-held-mosul-034937048...

 

This statement is is telling:

 

Unlike some of the other cities IS conquered in Iraq, Mosul still holds a large civilian population, making any air campaign difficult.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:55 | 6152612 usednabused
usednabused's picture

Another fucking joke by our fucking govt. As if civilian poulations ever meant a fucking thing to them. The whole damn thing needs burnt to the ground. And I dont mean Mosul.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:32 | 6152498 ATM
ATM's picture

When faced with the realities that he has contributed mightily to suffering, poverty and the social decay of the entire globe, what else did you expect him to say, "I'm guilty"?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:37 | 6152529 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

No, but this is borderline delusional.  He could have taken the tack that the good outweighed the bad in the policies undertaken on his watch.  But to deny there even is any bad is..... I just don't know who would think that's a good way of defending himself.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 18:14 | 6153338 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

Well, to be honest, other than Liesman, who's ever stated that Bernanke did anything in a "good" way?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:43 | 6152503 SmilinJoeFizzion
SmilinJoeFizzion's picture

Ben still rocks the Larry Fine

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:32 | 6152504 WillyGroper
WillyGroper's picture

Transient...my vision of blow hard Ben when the SHTF.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:33 | 6152510 jimfcarroll
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I recently saw a chart (that I can't find right now) that showed a long range historical plot of the wealth divide along side of FED activism. It was uncanny.

If ZH has it, it's worth a followup post.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:34 | 6152516 foodstampbarry
foodstampbarry's picture

Fuck you Bernanke!

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:34 | 6152518 large_wooden_badger
large_wooden_badger's picture

Who cares about Bernanke, can he do this:

https://www.yahoo.com/style/meet-caitlyn-jenner-120449155673.html

Caitlyn Jenner... much hotter than Chaz Bono.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:33 | 6152752 large_wooden_badger
large_wooden_badger's picture

I got downvoted for the Chaz Bono reference!!! HOW INCREDULOUS

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:35 | 6152520 steveo77
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Mass Animal Deaths in May 2015 ( 69 Mass Deaths In May and Still Counting) It looks like the rate of Mass Animal Deaths is Increasing

http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2015/05/mass-animal-deaths-in-may-2...

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:34 | 6152758 large_wooden_badger
large_wooden_badger's picture

More proof that all animals should just stop attending mass

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:36 | 6152524 GRDguy
GRDguy's picture

That's why The Great Red Dragon (Snakes In Suits) choose such sociopaths to be their agents and fronts. Those chosen really do believe they're right in their thinking.  All it takes to promote them up is to slime them with some money and prestige of office.  Then they perform exactly as expected.  If not, out comes the nail-gun.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:37 | 6152530 lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

Only brown people and the poors are responsible for what is wrong with the USA!

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:35 | 6152762 large_wooden_badger
large_wooden_badger's picture

And those asians

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:37 | 6152534 Ghostdog
Ghostdog's picture

Suck my cock, fascist!

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:44 | 6152542 Goldbugger
Goldbugger's picture

LIE and DENY. Eventually you believe your own lies and justify what you do. Narsasitic asswholes.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:52 | 6152550 mastersnark
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When I read this I think of the scene frome Se7en: "When a person is insane, as you clearly are, do you know that you're insane? Maybe you're just sitting around, reading 'Guns and Ammo', masturbating in your own feces, do you just stop and go, 'Wow! It is amazing how fucking crazy I really am!'? Yeah. Do you guys do that?"

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:43 | 6152555 koreangold
koreangold's picture

He's kind of right inequality has been a long term trend, a trend started oh about a 100 years ago. What happened 100 years ago?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:59 | 6152621 usednabused
usednabused's picture

Well, one thing comes to mind. They tarred and feathered fuckers like Greenspan, Bernanke, Bush, Clinton, and Obama. Any more questions?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:50 | 6152588 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

"Interestingly, some of the same critics who say that the Fed's policies disproportionately help the wealthy also claim that they "hurt savers" by lowering rates of return. Since the wealthy tend to be savers, and the middle class and poor tend to be borrowers, the assertions that Fed policy helps the wealthy and hurts savers cannot generally both be true."

 

Pretty much says all that need be said - not only about policy, but the man himself.

 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:55 | 6152607 koreangold
koreangold's picture

The Wealthy don't stick their money at the local bank a 0.1%. The smart ones hold assets including property, Stocks, Art etc. Where do you think this ineqaulity has come from?  The middle class tend to have sad little bank accounts which they will lose on or modest property which keeps them floating barely. While the poor get stung in the ass by the price of daily goods which they as a group are most senstitive to. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:57 | 6153284 Kelley
Kelley's picture

Inflation drives the poor and middle class to borrowing instead of saving when the average household sees a drop in its income. 

"Both the rich and the poor have an equal right to sleep under the bridge (ie., borrow)"  but only the poor do.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:54 | 6152606 Joe Tierney
Joe Tierney's picture

Been Berzerke employs the "everybody's been doing it" defense.....

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 14:58 | 6152620 basho
basho's picture

juvenile.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:01 | 6152633 jim249
jim249's picture

A sociopath will never admit they are wrong.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:40 | 6153027 Model T
Model T's picture

He has nothing to do with it. The phenomenon is rooted in de-regulation and capture of the Congress by the Corporations. We have a gov. for the rich, and by the rich; this has been the case for over twenty years now; it's hardly remarkable that they're able to profit from this.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:02 | 6152635 csmith
csmith's picture

No better way to reduce inequality than letting rich people fail.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:02 | 6152636 Kelley
Kelley's picture

Tyler, which Comedy Club was he appearing at? Sorry, I missed his boffo performance.

 

PS. Did he ever tell the inflation joke as to why the poor and middle class are borrowing instead of saving? It's an oldie but goodie:

"Both the rich and the poor have an equal right to sleep under the viaducts."

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:05 | 6152645 frankly scarlet
frankly scarlet's picture

The Bernak is not responsible because the Fed operates in a moral vacuum; always has, always will....so go fuck yourselves as the Bernak has his payoff coming now.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:09 | 6152657 jmcadg
jmcadg's picture

WTF

“Since the wealthy tend to be savers, and the middle class and poor tend to be borrowers, the assertions that Fed policy helps the wealthy and hurts savers cannot generally both be true.”

Bingo.

All along he was desparately trying to get the middle class and poor to borrow and spend more to bail out the rich.

He's just admitted it right there.

You evil lying fuck Bernanke.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:09 | 6152660 Catullus
Catullus's picture

Next week, he'll blog that they didn't bailout insolvent banks. That everything was fine. And it was just a blip.

As if bailing out people ISN'T maintaining the status quo. Because there otherwise would have been the "deflationary spiral" according to Keynesians that would have transferred assets to non-rich people. And that's the point of a bailout. It's to maintain control.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:13 | 6152663 Central Bankster
Central Bankster's picture

Well Bernanke, there is an expression for people like you:  "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

 

Ben, you are responsible for your actions.  You were warned that QE would increase the wealth disparity, but in your arrogrance, you pushed on because you could not figure out a better solution.  A real man would have stepped down and allowed someone else to lead.  Long after you are gone, history will remember you the fool, your legacy will be one of failure.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:16 | 6152685 I Write Code
I Write Code's picture

Bernanke-poo said the magic word, "structural", admiting that something, somewhere, is beyond the immediate reach of monetary policy.  I don't know Ben, why don't we have the Fed print fifty trillion dollars and see if that helps?  You'd get a nice kiss from Paul Krugman anyway.  I'm pretty sure if you give a poor person a trillion dollars, they're not poor anymore (might take them days to fritter it all away).  Hey, it worked when you gave rich people a bunch of money, didn't it?

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:22 | 6152707 AustrianJim
AustrianJim's picture

I love how he dismisses an overwhelming segment of the population (250 million? 300 million?) as borrowers and not savers.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:31 | 6152745 usednabused
usednabused's picture

Whats 99.9% of 325 million? 324 million and change? Thats your answer

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:31 | 6152734 BoPeople
BoPeople's picture

I cannot imagine that he is so clueless as to not understand the effect of taking fixed income investment proceeds away from the elderly and retiring middle class ... nor understanding how high net worth individuals gave their money to hedge funds to invest with those hedge funds hugely leveraging the invested amount by borrowing money at low rates not available to the middle and lower classes.

Neither the wealthy investors, nor the hedge funds would have done what they did if they were not given a concrete guarantee from Ben himself that he will keep interest rates low and risk at zero "for the foreseeable future".

Granny and Grandpa middle-class six-pack did not get that guarantee from Ben when he dropped the interest rate given to them by their bank, on their life savings, from 7% to 0.02%. What Ben did instead was make it so that none of the banks needed or wanted Granny and Grandpa's money because Ben gave the banks FREE MONEY.

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