A great deal can be learned about the government’s response to this crisis, as well as the mistaken policies that necessitated it, by analyzing a speech delivered by Ben Bernanke on 21 November 2002. At that time, Bernanke was a Governor of the Federal Reserve. The speech, to the National Economists Club, was titled “Deflation: Making Sure ‘It’ Doesn’t Happen Here”.
[Read more...]Why the Misery Index Is Higher Than the Feds Let On
June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Dow Jones Industrial Average continues its hiatus from doom and gloom yesterday – up more than 100 points so far today on what would be its fourth consecutive winning session.
A four-day winning streak may not seem like much, but as The Daily Reckoning faithful will recall, the Dow has fallen for six straight weeks. Perhaps the Blue Chips will fall for a seventh straight week, but so far the Dow is solidly in the black.
[Read more...]Anonymous Demands on the Federal Reserve
June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well, Ben Bernanke can’t say he wasn’t warned. You may recall, the hacker group known as Anonymous issued a demand on March 11 that Bernanke step down as Fed chairman.
“We aim to break up the global banking cartel centered at the Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund, Bank of International Settlements [sic] and World Bank,” their video manifesto declares.
[Read more...]The Central Bank Stock Market Indicator
June 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
“Bernanke comments keep equities in check,” says a headline in The Financial Times.
Sure enough. The Dow ended down again – 21 points down. It’s been going down for five weeks. But it’s still above 12,000. So there’s nothing to be alarmed about.
What did Ben Bernanke say? Not much really. He allowed as to how the economy was not as strong as he had hoped. But he said things were getting better. And he didn’t mention QE3.
[Read more...]Bernanke Describes US Economic Growth as “Frustratingly Slow”
June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well… Big Ben Bernanke said the economy was “frustratingly slow”… So… For once, he agrees with me, for I said it long before he ever admitted it! So, we’ve got that to talk about this morning, and a few other things.
Well… As I walked out of the door yesterday, Big Ben Bernanke was speaking to the good people in Atlanta… I say they are good people, because they sat and listened, and didn’t pull a John Wilkes Booth on Big Ben! But, just like politicians who like to pat their own backs when something goes right, even though it had nothing to do with them, Big Ben is touting the “necessity” of his stimulus or quantitative easing (QE)… He told the audience yesterday that his stimulus was “warranted” because the economy is “frustratingly slow”… Hmmm… Yes the second part of that statement is correct; it is “slow”… But, unless you are trying to emulate the Japanese, shouldn’t you have just let the economy bottom out, and by now we would be moving in the right direction, instead of these starts and stops caused by your stimulus, Mr. Bernanke?
[Read more...]How to Be a Central Bank Celebrity
April 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bernanke spoke!
Yes, he held a press conference. Why would the world want a press conference from a central banker? Ah…good question. Because he’s a celebrity… He’s powerful. He moves and he shakes. He’s as popular as William and Kate put together.
In the past, a central banker was meant to be anonymous…quiet…hidden away somewhere so far in the background that the ordinary man wouldn’t know his name or recognize his face.
[Read more...]HBO’s “Too Big to Fail” Movie to Repaint Zeros as Heroes?
April 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The new movie, “Too Big to Fail,” based on Andrew Ross Sorkin’s book of the same name, is about Washington’s response to the financial crisis… a matter we know all too well… and explores 2008′s Wall Street financial implosion and the people who made the pivotal decisions on how to react.
[Read more...]Why Won’t Bernanke Come Clean on Glut?
March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Perhaps the greatest mystery in the world of finance and economics is why Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke refuses to acknowledge that paper money creation by central banks produced the “global savings glut” which, according to him, destabilized the global economy and led to the crisis of 2008.
Six years ago, Bernanke unleashed his Global Savings Glut (GSG) theory on the world. Since then, he has made numerous other speeches touching on this subject, including one last month in Paris. With each speech he came a little closer to admitting the obvious, but in every case he holds back, as if not at liberty to discuss the secret money-making powers of central bankers.
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The Chairman of the Federal Reserve is Clueless
When it came to financial failure, there was no one in Washington – or on earth – who had masterminded more disastrous policies or produced more erroneous forecasts than Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Had he been an imperial soothsayer in a medieval court he would have lost his head or, at best, he’d be rotting in a dungeon.
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