Here is Bernankeâs roadmap, and a âpoint-by-pointâ list .... 1. Reduce nominal interest rate to zero. Check. That didnât work... 2. Increase the number of dollars in circulation, or credibly threaten to do so. Check. That didnât work... 3. Expand the scale of asset purchases or, possibly, expand the menu of assets it buys. Check & check. That didnât work... 4. Make low-interest-rate loans to banks. Check. That didnât work... 5. Cooperate with fiscal authorities to inject more money. Check. That didnât work... 6. Lower rates further out along the Treasury term structure. Check. That didnât work... 7. Commit to holding the overnight rate at zero for some specified period. Check. That didnât work... 8. Begin announcing explicit ceilings for yields on longer-maturity Treasury debt (bonds maturing within the next two years); enforce interest-rate ceilings by committing to make unlimited purchases of securities at prices consistent with the targeted yields. Check, and check. That didnât work... 9. If that proves insufficient, cap yields of Treasury securities at still longer maturities, say three to six years. Check (theyâre buying out to 7 years right now.) That didnât work... 10. Use its existing authority to operate in the markets for agency debt. Check (in fact, they âownâ the agency debt market!) That didnât work... 11. Influence yields on privately issued securities. (Note: the Fed used to be restricted in doing that, but not anymore.) Check. That didnât work... 12. Offer fixed-term loans to banks at low or zero interest, with a wide range of private assets deemed eligible as collateral (â¦Well, Iâm still waiting for them to accept bellybutton lint & Beanie Babies, but Iâm sure my patience will be rewarded. Besides their âmark-to-maturityâ offers will be more than enticing!) Anyway⦠Check. That didnât work... 13. Buy foreign government debt (and although Ben didnât specifically mention it, letâs not forget those dollar swaps with foreign nations.) Check. That didnât work... Bernanke has failed. "It" has happened. The proof is irrefutable http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/04/bernankes-deflation-preventing.html .......................................................................................
Don't forget that BB inherited this mess. 99.99% of the failure falls squarly on Greenspan's shoulders. He didn't "know" banks would risk their own equity by levering up so high? Not only did he know, he was the chief engineer of it all. If he didn't know that Lehman (or was it Bear?) was levered up to nearly 75% before they went down, compared to a historical 12% then he was the most incompetent chairman the Fed has ever seen.
and...perhaps the reason BB's plan is failing so miserably is because he is using a Fiat currency system to fix a Credit/Debt currency system. There is a huge difference between the two.
...................................................................... Unfortunately.....This is a clear cut case whereby academics and the real world do not jive.... ie globalization .... ........................................................................ In order to regain footing.....a govt./business structure that creates a truly sustainable base while protecting the basic freedoms of its citizens.... requires implementation.... Thus far....not only has over $30 Trillion been taken out of the $70 Trillion equation.....but the $12 Trillion imposition by Bernake's hoax will be subtracted as well.... Add additional taxation.....and one has a certain recipe for guaranteed economic disaster.... It is real...and it is happening.... ......................................................................................... An actual restructuring of the govt. itself is necessary.... In order to gain footing in the right direction.... ................................................................................. Bernanke....Greenspan and crew are proof positive of being educated beyond one's intelligence....
He did ok, but yea it looks like he lost. I blame the failure for two reasons. One they didn't fully nationalize the banks. They should have dealt it. Two, the stimulus was a complete waste. No vision in it, and instead of taking a couple months and hammering out a nationwide plan, they just funded old pork. I remember an old economist from the Depression era in an article saying stimulus was most important. Listen to the old people. Would love to see a follow up. Edit - And by old people I don't mean 50-60 somethings. I believe the baby boomers are a complete failure.
They got your money to pay for their soc sec. And they're gonna keep on gettin it. And they got your money to pay for bailouts and stimulus and every other ridiculous thing they want to do. And your gonna pay for it for the rest of your life. So which generation is stupid? And not only that, the younger generation votes FOR this sh*t even to a greater degree than the baby boomers. You wanna talk about dumber than a mud fence.......
18 to 40 year olds are going to get the shaft. In prison parlance, from what I understand, it's called "having one's shit pushed in." Not pleasant sounding.
Actually the great economist during the Depression was Keynes. He would say this stimulus package is a waste of time. He believed the elasticity of the demand for money was close to 0 while the E of D for investment was huge. He concluded the government can do more to save the economy than the fed can. Instead of pumping more money into the economy the government should spend more/ cut taxes etc. With the apparent failure of the stimulus keynes ideas have come roaring back. Another problem keynes pointed out is that during recessions employees are extremely resistant to pay cuts meaning unemployment sky rockets while wages stay the same (actually increased during the great depression). Now one question being overlooked is without the stimulus would the economy be in the shape its in currently or 5 times worse? I think the stimulus kept us from diving further down...which means I'm a little relunctant to deem it a failure.
Dug it back up. I really found this article fascinating. It is shame old people go so unnoticed. We always think everything is so unique, when really it has happened before. Possible the stimulus saved us from much worse. I would lean more towards QE. Just because there is no evidence of stimulus, as most has not been used. But certainly the market has been pricing in different projects for months now, so it may have. I believe the QE will suffer the same fate as the "Bernake Put" after Bear. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=159560&highlight=fdr+economist But back to libertad's post. Didn't mean to ramble away from those points. They all seem damning.