Calling you out as a cheerleader hardly equates to bitchin' ..and try re-reading my earlier post which says both camps have legs to stand on, although one needs a leg brace.
The Fed didn't cause the housing bubble and the consequences of their actions was directly propotional with the public. They're to blame for the mess. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would partially agree with this. Hence, A loaded gun sitting on a table, all be it loaded, will not fire unless the trigger is pulled. So, the fed lowered rates to create real cheap money and extra liquidity so any fucking fool could get a loan on the home or take out a second mortgage and buy their hummer to try and pretend they "ROLL". So, yes the final blame is on the fools who took massive amounts of risk with the cheap money. However, the Fed provided the tools for this to happen. And keeping rates near .5% for a decade is temptation. The Fed's have their fair share of the blame but they are not the sole reason. The politicians on both sides jumped on the opportunity to push cheap money to the "Poor" so they can buy homes, cars, etc and feel good. Hence the party continued. Never the less, the fed has far more reckless ideas ahead, as does the treasury. The Fed is like the Pimp who brings in a smoking hot 18year old and tells the boys they can have a piece for next to nothing as he slowly walks out of the room. Any private bank with as much power as the FED has, is not wise and it is unconstitutional for them to "Print" money. PERIOD.
I think it's absolutely hilarious that anyone thinks Bernanke is doing a good job. Everything that he touches turns to shit. I don't think it's so much a case of critiquing Bernanke but rather coming up with a genuine argument that really defends anything he has done. I have yet to hear one.
You know what's funny is anybody who believes that deflation is a problem. They have been dead wrong for the past 5+ years but that hasn't stopped them from obliterating this country for the common man in the meantime.
There are several people on ET who believe Ben is doing a great job. Interestingly, there are quiet a few Canadians on this site and Canada is doing great economically. Sherlock Shortie Out
the fed IS responsible for the dollar's significant decline. weak dollar is better for who? who is "us"? wall street shills? probably. if you mean the majority of the public, then you are sorely mistaken. seniors and the elderly on fixed income - screwed. john q public purchasing power? eroded. unless wages are keeping up with inflation (which they most certainly are not) then inflation is a bad thing for everyone who cannot or does not hedge. which is most of the people in this country. yes, it makes it cheaper to pay back the massive debt we're in - debt that the politicians, wall street and the fed are responsible for. but it is most certainly not good for the majority of americans. you're 0 for 1. absolute and total horseshit. i answered this already once before here. have a look. i'm not going to type it all out again, but i know what i'm talking about. i am a finance director for a consumer packaged goods company that makes about 50 brands you know in the grocery store. for the last few years (post 2008) we've been struggling with margin because we could not pass it on. there's something called "competition" that prevents us from taking price whenever the hell we want like you suggest. read the post. you're 0 for 2. i pray that you never find out what it is like to be them. many of them were doing just fine until this decade, the decade of debt and inflation, that crushed their retirement and savings and forced them to spend more and more of their fixed income on increasing costs (food and energy). you don't lose points on this one, but you certainly lose points for being a human being. i don't fault institutions. i never said that once. i fault The Fed for making the rules that favor the institutions, rebuild their tattered balance sheets (the ones they ruined by risk taking) at the expense of folks like ma and pa you mentioned. No Country Has Ever Devalued Their Way To Prosperity - some light reading for you when you get bored. 0 for 3. you are correct on zerohedge. they are notoriously bearish on anything, up and including life. but they have some good points and good articles to counter a notoriously "unicorn and rainbows" press, which includes your federal reserve propaganda. but regarding insiders, i don't have to know the story. if someone who is a senior executive of their company is selling big time, i'm not sure i want to be buying. no point awarded or taken. so you think "normalcy" is what...2007-2008? what about the rest of ...well, history? look at a 30 year chart on anything once in a while. 0 for 4. he's not the only one to blame - there sure are lots who can be blamed - bankers, mortgage servicers, appraisal companies, the government, congress, the home owners themselves, speculators, and yes, the Fed. still, to use your bartender analogy, if someone goes to a bar, gets themselves drunk and leaves to kill someone in an accident, some bars can be sued because they continued to serve a drunk far beyond the point of his own well being. especially if 40% of the people who leave the bar get in the same types of accidents. nonetheless, i have to begrudge you a point. 1 and 4. there is a difference between saying something cannot happen, and saying there are some risks that exist and have to be watched. just like he's been doing for the last three years. he didn't see the housing crisis. end of story. missed it. completely. 1 and 5. completely irrelevant point, since the banks never had to eat the loses to the loans and leverage they gave out. with the exception of lehman, no other companies or banks died. once again, i'm not blaming wall street. if you give a pig a ham sandwich, he'll eat it and look to you for more. i am saying, and have said, that the party most at fault here is The Fed. i lost track on your score, but i don't think you did very well. in the beginning of the thread, you asked someone to point out specific arguments if they wanted to slam the fed. i have done that in spades. your turn.
Your point system is terribly flawed and favoring your deeply delusional opinion. But it's opinion only and not fact so none of that means anything. As far as seniors, John Q and the majority public, they're the reason why were in this mess wether you believe it or not. Wall street greed played a role, but the envy and greed of the public was/is far worse. Wages might not keep up with inflation but there's no reason why the public can not hedge themselves. The opportunities are out there and situations present themselves everyday. And in today's world where information is the most readily available commodity, sitting around dumbfounded walking blind without a cane is no one elses fault. Pick a side. You want to blame wall street and politicians for 'creating this massive debt' we're in, but you forget to mention the publics role in all of it. Then you want to point more fingers and complain about the weak dollar that BENEFITS the country in terms of paying back the debt load. This isn't a communist country, take your hippie opinions elsewhere. This is America. As far as your struggling margins against my argument, just because you don't like it doesn't mean your opinion is correct because it's not. And you were the one that stated earlier that food and oil prices haven't been reflected in CPI since the 80's correct? Well your example is groceries. That's food. Food costs have been increasing dramatically for quite some time. It's not the fault of the nation that your company is suffering from margins because of competition. That's a terrible excuse. And regardless of your opinion on the matter and your feeling, if you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete. Just because you can swing the clubs well doesnt mean you're gonna be able to play in the tour with Tiger. Other companies CAN take advantage and do which is why they Have the profits they have. The Fed didnt favor institutions, the Fed understands what the majority public does not. Without the institutions, there is no economy. Wether you like it or not or agree with it is meaningless, facts are facts. Did the banks mess up? Yes, did they get away with a lot of things they shouldn't have? Yes, but hindsight is 20/20 so another moot point. That google link didn't work (devaluing to prosperity) Insider transactions are worth watching but theres much more to it than just buying and selling. That's a conversation for another day. 30 year chart on 'anything' is pretty ambiguous, it'll be argued both ways to no end. Who are you to say he didn't see the crisis? Were you in contact with him? Maybe he had another agenda, Who knows. But no one could have predicted what actually unfolded and to say so is ridiculous and a bold faced lie. A point isn't irrelevant Bc you don't agree with it. It wasn't that Lehman was the exception, Lehman was the sacrifice. The other banks got away with it and got bailed out. As Far as the banks being responsible, they put off their costs of mortgages etc to outside investors, banks, institutions etc. That's not their fault for taking advantage of loopholes. So even though you may think so, none of your points are valid and prove in any way the fed is to blame. All of your statements are off runs on your liberal opinions. I haven't seen anything valid from anyone to slam the fed. I see a lot of bad links to bs stories written by more liberals who are all drinking the same hippie kool-aid and blind faith to a system that doesn't exist. In America it's Darwinism. The strong survive. People and companies alike. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it doesnt work, it means you're doing it wrong.
Bubble ben bernanke is doing a fine job of creating more problems that will arise in the months and years to come, anyone who cheers him on is a complete idiot. Nothing like having another credit bubble cause that is exactly where the economy is headed once again!!!! Laugh and jump for joy all you want about this so called economic turn around but the truth is its all being manipulated by worthless dollars and and easy money policies, why anyone cannot comprehend this is beyond me. Remember the only way to grow an economy today is through the creation of asset bubbles. Thank you BUBBLE ben bernanke for your efforts to create more economical problems!
Only fools believe BUBBLE ben bernanke is doing a "great job" all he is doing is creating more economical problems that will only be even more significant than the last one!