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A Hurt Ben Bernanke Explains That He Is Not Responsible For Record Inequality, Epic Hilarity Ensues
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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He's not that clueless, its just what fucking THIEVES do.
There are several factors that have made the productive middle and lower classes poorer relative the non-productive parasitic classes.
1. The banks and government made it favorable for companies to move their manufacturing overseas to low labor rate countries.
2. The banks and government discriminated against local small businesses and start-ups so that the companies moving their facilities overseas would not have competition.
3. The banks invested heavily in inflation and a propaganda campaign to make people believe that it was their own fault that they could not find productive work, when in fact was all due to bank and government global economic management.
Here ya go Benny, people a lot smarter than you ever were or ever will be.....
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, The banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Thomas Jefferson
“Without big banks, socialism would be impossible.”
Vladimir Lenin
The term "Ass Hat" doesn't even apply to this guy. Why take the money that the banksters have thrown at him for "not" helping them and fuck off to hawaii or fiji or somewhere never to be seen or heard from again.
If he actually believes the drivel that he writes then he has never actually looked out the limosine window as it lumbers past all of the homeless that he had a hand in creating.
Here is a message to Ben. Open your fucking eyes. Oh and stop crying about all of the people calling you nasty names because if the shoe fits then wear it.
SO where do you get off that he didn't help the banks? You're full of shit
Goddamnit I hate this fucker. He is lying and he knows it. He has stolen money directly from me via my savings and given it to his bankster buddies. Direct theft. Fuck You Ben Fuck You and please die a painful horrible ass cancerous death you mealy mouth lying prick. And when you die I will surely piss on your grave. Talk to some of the seniors that you have stolen from with your zirp experiment you motherfucker, you know the ones now eating cat food. Do you own shares in Purina? Fuck you Bernanke
How true. Under Greenspan's watch, the largest credit bubble in global in history was created.
http://www.globaldeflationnews.com/anatomy-of-a-bubble-how-the-federal-r...
The final affect on the Federal Reserve will, most likely, result in its demise...
http://www.globaldeflationnews.com/the-creature-from-jekyll-island-the-e...
First, widening inequality is a very long-term trend, one that has been decades in the making. - Ben Shalom Bernanke
The exponential increase in the FED's balance sheet is a very long-term trend, one that has been decades in the making - NihilistZerO
Not correlation, but causation.
Fuxk you Ben...Something is coming down the pipe for all these guys to be blaming each other now...something is not jiving,
I watched my mother live in fear the last 2 years of her life because the $120,000 she had left in savings no longer produced $4800-$5000 in income. This was money she used to buy groceries, not fuel the yacht Ben you worthless cunt. She lived in fear that she would outlive the savings as she was drawing down the principle. Fuck You Ben you cunt
Ben evidently feels the pressure of reality in choosing to continuously "defend" his positions and actions on central planning and Fed control of markets.
Keep up the pressure, all.
He knows that when history is written his legacy will be as one of the prime villains in America's slide into Third World status.
His monetary policies ensured inequality.
He will be in good company as that will be Obama's legacy as well.
Hoover in the 30's
Obama in the 21st century
Bernankevilles and Obamavilles but they don't care as long as they get a wad of money and some power for awhile.
"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."
Where this falls apart is when you are forced to save for something that you know is coming up - retirement, kids education, etc.... Now we have to save more.
What an arrogant idiot.
Anyone ever see that movie, "Weekend at Bernanke's"? Kind of reminds me of the world economy.
little people should not question the big people. learn that and go back to sleep
If one were to omit the measurements of all the arguments above, that is remove the time duration characteristics and remove the matter of degree by 'how much' of this and that there is, then one will always be left with the first principle that is the cause of it all.
Is it necessary and proper for any governing body to maintain a monopoly on the business of banking?
What reason could there be for the monopoly other then to facilitate the theft from productive workers by counterfeiting and the robbery from productive workers by underwriting Treasury Bonds and Notes with the counterfeit that is collateralized by the direct tax of those same productive workers?
The exponential trend is your friend. Can't go wrong, just print a new planet.
Ben is in a category of people who simply don't know when to STFU.
the fed has become nothing more than part of the political class. As with the political class they get their money from the 1% and get their votes from the dependant class. The ever disappearing middle class is left to rant on the internet. Good thing my taxabe income stays just below the fica limit...lol.
he's getting fat.
the fat used to just reside in his cranium, now its just expanding into the rest of his being.
I'm sensitive to issues of "income inequality", until I see how Kim Kardashian became fabulously wealthy by being a public whore and appealing largely to people who are at the bottom end of the scale.
I'm not sure we'll ever "solve" the problem of stupid consumption decisions.
The Bernak stole money from the Grandmothers of the country.
Lacks morales.
And cahones
Bernanke and his butt buddies are communists. 'Nuff said.
You're gonna BURN for this BENNY! No matter how you SLANT this version of how things went in your mind... You ABSOULUTELY CANNOT AVOID THE KARMA THAT IS COMING FOR YOU. FYI, I purposely misspelled absolutely there as it does involve the SOUL Ben. You can't do this much damage and walk away clean.. sorry. It's gonna be a bitch.. time to pay up
Actually, it is the structure of the system that needs to burn. The nature of the monopoly makes humanoids like corrupted bankers possible.
Ancient Polish proverb ''The Jew cries out in pain as he strikes you''.
The inequality has always been there. Especially prevalent before and after the american revolution,,, the 1800's where thousands were imprisoned for less then twenty dollars debt while shipping and land magnets stole millions through manipulation of law via capture of the government. Other than the brief period between 1950 and 1980 were the common man allowed some of the fruits of his labor. With the Trade Treaties and ObamaCare the modern corporatists are slowly correcting that.
A multibillionair having broken his leg using taxpayer dollars to charter a special flight to provide for his comfort and well being is absolute proof of the division of the haves and the meager have nots with the meager paying the bulk of the wealthy(s) life ticket. Nothing new here,,, A little more colorful dressing.
Sounds great on paper, but does not work in the real world.
If properly managed- that is a good one. Just where is this properly managed monetary policy?
You can say or write anything you want about Bernanke. He simply does not care.
All he cares about is the adulation and ass-kissing he gets daily by the 1%ers, many of whom would have gone bankrupt without FED intervention in 2008-09.
And he is a very rich man.
That said, Bernanke is one of the biggest traitors in American history to the 99% rest of us.
Just to jog your memory?
Inhofe: “No Way Of Knowing” Where Bailout Money Has Gone
Posted On November 17, 2008
Senator calls for blank check to be cancelled, says passage of legislation was predicated on lies
Monday, November 17, 2008
Senator Jim Inhofe has slammed the continued secrecy behind where the bailout money has gone, saying that Hank Paulson could have given it to his friends and that the “blank check” must be cancelled now.
The Federal Reserve has failed to comply with congressional demands for transparency and disclose the destination of at least $2 trillion dollars [2] in bailout funds, underscoring once again the failure of top down socialism and the folly of trusting the foxes to guard the henhouse.
Speaking with Tulsa World [3], the Oklahoma Republican said, “It is just outrageous that the American people don’t know that Congress doesn’t know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone,” adding, “It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don’t know. There is no way of knowing.”
Inhofe chastised Paulson for carrying out a bait and switch in which he abandoned the central promise to buy out bad mortgage debt after passage of the bill by Congress.
“He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn’t do it,” Inhofe said.
Inhofe also highlighted the urgency with which the bailout bill was pushed and said this was a tell-tale sign that its advocates were lying about the problem in order to ram through the legislation.
“I have learned a long time ago. When they come up and say this has to be done and has to be done immediately, there is no other way of doing it, you have to sit back and take a deep breath and nine times out of 10 they are not telling the truth,” he said.
“And this is one of those nine times.”
As we reported at the time, some members of Congress were threatened with martial law [4] in America if they failed to vote for the bill.
Inhofe is now trying to rally support for a freeze on what’s left of the initial $350 billion of bailout money with his “roll back the bailout” proposal, which will also require an affirmative vote on the part of Congress to approve Treasury’s plan for the remaining $350 billion.
“It is imperative that we not allow that amount of money to be added to a deficit approaching $1 trillion this year without any input from the legislative branch,” stated Inhofe on his website [5].
“Congress abdicated its constitutional responsibility by signing a truly blank check over to the Treasury Secretary,” he wrote.
“However, the lame duck session of Congress offers us a tremendous opportunity to change course. We should take it.”
Inhofe dismissed the premise of the bailout, affirming that giving away money does not stimulate the economy.
“If we keep on nursing a broken system, then we can’t expect to have a different result come later on,” he said.
“I just think we have to draw the line someplace, and the time is here.”
URL to article: http://www.prisonplanet.com/inhofe-no-way-of-knowing-where-bailout-money...
URLs in this post:
[2] disclose the destination of at least $2 trillion dollars: http://www.prisonplanet.com/fed-hides-destination-of-2-trillion-in-bailo...
[3] Tulsa World: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/government/inhofe-cancel-the-blank-check/article_8c64a96d-cc38-53c4-85b7-14de28bf0193.html
[4] some members of Congress were threatened with martial law: http://www.infowars.net/articles/october2008/031008Sherman.htm
[5] on his website http://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-roll-back-the-bailout
But what we do know is the money didn't go where it was advertised to go. The bankers capture of government was / is complete... proof is none have gone to prison.
Oh yeah, and remember this?
Fed Hides Destination Of $2 Trillion In Bailout Money
Posted By admin On November 11, 2008 @ 5:17 am In Featured Stories,Paul Watson Articles Fails to comply with congressional demands for transparency, underscoring age-old problem of top down socialism and letting the fox guard the henhouse
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com [1]
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Federal Reserve is facing a lawsuit after it failed to comply with congressional demands for transparency and disclose the destination of at least $2 trillion dollars in bailout funds, underscoring once again the failure of top down socialism and the folly of trusting the foxes to guard the henhouse.
“The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral,” reports Bloomberg[2].
“Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn’t require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.”
Bloomberg has requested details of the Fed lending under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and filed a separate lawsuit in an effort to find out where the money has gone. [3]
President elect Barack Obama, who in a September 22 campaign speech promised to “Make our government open and transparent so that anyone can ensure that our business is the people’s business,” refused to comment on the story when contacted by Bloomberg, which is no surprise considering the fact that the man who guaranteed “change” has indicated he will not only follow the Bush administration policy of a socialized financial system, but radically expand it.
The Fed’s secrecy on the issue of where the bailout money is going underscores the age-old problem with top down socialism as a tool of re-shaping the economic landscape. The promise to fairly re-distribute the wealth, with full accountability, to achieve a solution that will ultimately benefit everyone, is trumped by the cold reality of the fact that corrupt elites, once the taxpayers have been suckered into believing the lie, merely hoard all the money for themselves and don’t redistribute it to anyone apart from their own inner circle of cronies.
Indeed, the banks have admitted that they are hoarding cash and will keep on doing so [4] while bigwigs reward themselves with fat bonuses as the real economy sinks deeper into the toilet.
But what else could we have expected upon hearing that ex-Goldman Sachs executive Neel Kashkari was appointed [5] by Paulson to dole out the ill-gotten gains of the bailout to the rest of the corporate crooks?
If you let the fox guard the henhouse then he’s going to eat the chickens.
In this case, the Fed and the gaggle of bastard banker children sucking on its teat, gobbled up $5 trillion plus [6]in taxpayers’ money and then figuratively stuck the middle finger up when questions were asked about where that money was going.
Meanwhile, the bailout has had no effect whatsoever, increasing the severity of the financial downturn and allowing the same elite to exploit the crisis as a pretext for centralizing control of the world economic system and creating a new world order and a single global currency.
URL to article:http://www.prisonplanet.com/fed-hides-destination-of-2-trillion-in-bailout-money.html
URLs in this post:
[1] Prison Planet.com: http://prisonplanet.com
[2] reports Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aatlky_cH.tY&refer=home
[4] have admitted that they are hoarding cash and will keep on doing so: http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/10/even-banks-admit-theyll-keep-on.html
[5] Neel Kashkari was appointed: http://www.prisonplanet.com/fox-guarding-the-henhouse-ex-goldman-sachs-exec-to-oversee-bailout.html
[6] $5 trillion plus : http://www.infowars.net/articles/october2008/151008Bailout_figures.htm
It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Privatized profits - but losses as a result of ill understood risk eaten by the majority of the population - the whole model is incestuous , dirty if you will. Human beings have been warned against charging interest on loans since the time of Socrates. A Federal Reserve Note is NOT repeat NOT an adequate representation of the VALUE of someone's labor. It is not a safe store of whatever labor ( energy ) the laborer used in order to be paid. Simply look at a graph of the PURCHASING POWER of a FRN since 1913 : https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=12...
"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."
Double speak.
Wealthy heads of corporations have borrowed huge sums of money through said corporations, in order to buy back company stock, while the company hands out huge stock option grants to the wealthy CEO.
FED policy does help the wealthy and harm savers. Both are generally true.
I hope you get cancer you dirty fucking jew!
I swear. They are intentionally fomenting revolution. There is no other explanation.
Hoisted by his own petard. I hope this Fabian kike is sweating bullets.
If Bernanke had any decency about him, he would have crawled under a rock and died.
To try and admonish himself from the sins he's committed is frankly disgusting.
You should be ashamed of yourself Ben.
BB should go on the road with this routine
Best comic out there
this actully made me laugh out loud
Yes, Ben, you lowered borrowing rates to help poor Tiny Tim and other poor souls who couldn't qualify for a loan or refi anyway and did so out of the goodness of your heart. You didn't do it to help the real big borrowers like corporations so they could juice profits and buybacks or to help the US government finance its ballooning debt.
His reasoning and logic is either purposefully manipulative or incompatible with reality and incompetent.
Immediately after his latest laughfest Ben announced he's changing his name to Caitlyn Bernanke, transgender economist.
Just another day in the American frreakshow.
Go and fuck yourself, Ben over.
STARVE THE BEAST!!!
This piece shows how bad/criminal this guy's thinking actually is. Me thinketh though doth protest too much Ben.
Poor people have been getting poorer since the introduction of the Fed. Fuck the Fed!
Inflate and Die, bitChez.
Verdict: His QE transferred hundreds of trillions of dollars from the poor to the rich.
How silly of us not to see that it was technological progress and demographic trends which caused sky high prices of real estate.
Outside the world of Zerohedge, people will listen to Bernake and buy his bullshit. Knowledge is like fiat currency to the masses. What little they have isn't worth shit. I can't really blame this on the masses though. They were dupped and don't even know it. They have been so conditioned since birth that this system is fair and just that they cannot conceive otherwise. But then again, if I can wake up, so can everyone else. Ignorance of the masses because of conditioning is starting to not be acceptable to me anymore. Maybe for a milennial since they have had no life experience and are fresh out of the ringer with their squeeky clean brains. But for anyone over 30 with an IQ over 80, if they are not awake, they are not paying attention. Therein lies the problem. I've said it before and I will keep saying it - short of an event of biblical proportions, one that will take the illusion of the shared reality of the masses and run it through the meat grinder, this charade will continue until we are on par with North Korea. It will be a slow and painful death and may take another hundred years to get to that point, but without some catalyst, that is where I predict shit is going.
I think this theory is pretty airtight as this is what pretty much everyone on Zerohedge is saying. I just wish it would happen already!
you cant blame the sheeps to be born as sheeps
at least they tend to sleep well at night (sometimes at day too)
Joe Sixpack and Sally Housecoat don't believe Ben's bullshit. They know there is nothing they can do about it.
Bi partisan Barry showed that neither party will even try to reign in the banksters
Yes. The course of human events is driven by ideas. The wrong principles beget the wrong actions and the right principles beget the right actions. The corruption of civilization is that its principles are wrong.
As far as tipping over sheep? Tell two friends to tell two friends.
You will be one of lucky ones Ben, you know when they start dragging you cunts through the streets?
You are going to have your fucking throat cut long before you reach the gallows
Cunt
:-)
the only reason he is still active is, becasue he can earn money (200000$ a 3-6hours)
and sell us books with nonsens-blabbeling about something you can put in to two words
MANIPULATED; FAKE
Bernanke is a fucking academis with ZERO real experience. WTF do idiots like Bush and Obama get the ideal that academics know anything?
STOP calling it "Income Equality" and call it what the fuck it is - THEFT by the banksters of the savers and taxpayers of this country. It was all preconceived, planned, and executed with the sole intent of transferring wealth from 99.999% to the 0.001%.
Roll the fucking guillotines already.
Butthurt Binyamin telling the Goyim how it is. I would be really surprised if Benny didn't also have Israeli citizenship, if only to prove his loyalty to the system.
The actions of the Fed underpin inefficiency and incompetence and favor finacial engineering over engineering of things tangibible. It has financed the offshoring of manufacturing - an activity which produces no value and is intended to undercut the productive workers - those in the factory and in the office. There actions are direct welfare for bankers and for investors over workers.
From his blog: "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. To illustrate: From the end of the 2001 recession (2001:q4) through the pre-crisis business cycle peak (2007:q4), the S&P500 stock price index grew by about 1.2 percent a quarter. If the index had grown at that same rate from the fourth quarter of 2007 on, it would have averaged about 2123 in the first quarter of this year; its actual value was 2063, a little below that."
Ben conveniently leaves out the fact that the Fed intervened with super low rates during 10 years of that 14 year period to push stock prices higher and the best they could do was about 5% a year. What is a 5% trend worth if it requires endless stimulus to achieve?
"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."
Translation: global overpopulation and the inevitable steady increase in mechanization continue, by virtue of the inescapable Law of Supply and Demand, to relentlessly lower the bargaining value of individuals and therefore of small businesses, and to therefore allow globalists to take more and more control of political systems. The ability of Central Banks to create money out of nothing helps a lot too, but as long as people continue to have lots of children, they can expect to have less and less power and freedom.
Don't pat yourself on the back for extending the debt shackles on the worldwide plantation.
Please don't.
The guillotines don't care.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
US/JAP 125? WTF! Don't tell me Bernankeitis isn't spreading! He got them to buy into the keynesian theory H,L and sinker.
I once spoke to a piece of dog shit and it appeared to be more intelligent than Bennie....; however it was much less evil than bearded-clam bernanke....
you will never convince him he was wrong..he is/was paid to do wrong and paid well for it. his priorities were never the public ones in the Fed charter. Smart and evil are hard to beat.