Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bernanke must be a brain surgeon

Flashback to when a $29 billion bailout was big...

From Reuters by Mark Felsenthal on Wed Apr 2, 2008:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday conceded for the first time the U.S. economy may slip into recession, but said growth should pick up later this year as the impact of interest rate cuts and other emergency steps take root.

Helicopter Ben is so smart!

Bernanke told a congressional panel that the economy appeared to be growing, but warned it could shrink in the first half of 2008. It was Bernanke's first testimony on Capitol Hill since the U.S. central bank helped rescue investment bank Bear Stearns in mid-March, an action he defended as averting a collapse that would have been calamitous.

Thank goodness we averted that calamity!

And today we hear more nonsense from Bernanke...

From the NYTimes' Catherine Rampell:

He urged support for the significant — and in many cases, unpopular — fiscal and monetary interventions the government has made into the economy thus far.

“If actions taken by the administration, the Congress, and the Federal Reserve are successful in restoring some measure of financial stability — and only if that is the case, in my view — there is a reasonable prospect that the current recession will end in 2009 and that 2010 will be a year of recovery,” Mr. Bernanke said.


Bush's bailout was a mistake and Obama's stimulus is not much better. Both measures increased the likelihood of a collapse of the dollar.

These bad policies must end... and calling for a halving of the federal deficit isn't enough. China is already far too influential in American fiscal policy as a result of us being indebted to them.

Ben Bernanke and all the economic insiders (i.e. Geithner) need to go. They're just a bunch of economists who think they're smarter than you and me. Yet their own records clearly demonstrate they are not brain surgeons.

Tim White

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree that Bush's bailout was a mistake. However, at least he tried...Obama should have learned from this mistake, but he hasn't. We continue to throw money at our problems. I agree that Geithner has NO place in this administration. And for Obama to comment on his not paying taxes as a small mistake is shameful.

Anonymous said...

It is very easy to throw rocks when one does not have to suffer the consequences or one does not have any responsibility for correcting what has happened.

While some try to save the patient, others criticize them and basically would rather simply watch the patient suffer. And, while they continue to criticize, people continue to worry and hold back on their spending which adds to the problem.

Wouldn't it be great if cooperation could replace criticism and politics as usual.

Anonymous said...

It is very easy to throw rocks when one does not have to suffer the consequences or one does not have any responsibility for correcting what has happened.

Bernanke is complicit in creating this mess with his love of easy credit. Also, my 401k is down probably $20k or so (last I checked). So I certainly have felt the consequences of the mess he helped create.

While some try to save the patient, others criticize them and basically would rather simply watch the patient suffer.

This is similar to giving a drug addict another fix. Sure, it feels great for a day. But does it solve the problem?

Pain now or pain later. I say pain now.

Wouldn't it be great if cooperation could replace criticism and politics as usual.

Yes, it would be. I suggest Bernanke start cooperating by jumpstarting a dialogue on the merits of sound money and fiat money.