Excuse me, that's a nice piece of rhetoric above, but I don't believe that you answered my earlier question . . . Since our country has never had a decent saving's rate post WW-II, please tell me where the investment capital will come from in order to produce new businesses, job growth, and economic expansion?
The best thing for the economy would have been to wait and maybe cut rates at the next meeting. However, this being an election year......... Only the future will tell and it doesn't look too good at this time. Trust has been lost and once it's lost, it's very hard to gain back. We can thank Ben and company for that. Hindsight is 20/20 and we will be able to see clearly the mistakes he has made and continues to make. When you fly, you want someone of some intelligence flying the plane. Same as with running a government or being chairman of the Fed. Unfortunately, we are passengers stuck in a plane with a dim-witted pilot.
Do you really truly believe that a 1/4 point rate cut today is that significant? Moreover, are you even aware that the next Fed Meeting isn't for 2 months??? As for "bashing" Bernanke, I guess it's his fault that the Administration and Congress continues to spend money and run up budget deficits like a drunken sailor on shore leave, eh? Who do you think has allowed the dollar to lose 50% of its value over the past 7 years? I'll give you one guess.
Avg Joe is loaded up to debt to his eyeballs. Some people get credit approvals for their pets in the mail. Joe's cat and dog are probably deep in debt too.
The people in charge NOW have a chance to change things and better things. Inflation is running at around 4% and Fed funds rate is just 2% meaning the real interest rate is two percentage points below zero. If anything, although not a popular decision, rates should be raised. At the very least, rates should have been held steady.
Are you trying to say the fed has had no reponsibility in the destruction of the dollar? Their growth at any cost policies are exactly why we are where we are. How much better off would we be right now if Greenspan hadnt panicked and just let the economy work through the tech pop? The fed is constantly reacting to past mistakes. Want to take a guess what the ramifications of all this easing will be three years from now? They have replaced the business cycle with the crisis cycle. Each move they make just leads to the next crisis.
Convertibility has it dead nuts. If you believe the official inflation rate, you're a real tool. If you think Bernanke isn't aware of the inflation charade, you're a galactically ignorant tool: By the way, a friend of mine owns 18 pizza franchises. I can personally assure anyone here wheat flour has gone from $11.50 to $30+ per bag in the last year. Many restaurant owners are buying their flour and other ingredients from Gordon Foods and Costco, to minimize their costs, rather than have Sysco deliver them.
I'm implying that "avg Joe" "corporate Joe" "muni Joe"and "Uncle Sam" have just one way out of their crushing debt burden. It's through massive devaluation. Yes "avg Joe" ultimately prospers if he's able to pay off his credit cards and mortgage in vastly depreciated dollars. Ala' BA. Those with assets enjoy global fungibility. Those with cash or short assets.....not so good.