Joking about what? About the using an unconventional stimulus tool such as buying "goods and services" in the Economy? They can. Just ask Alan Greenspan. In fact, there was a position paper released accidentally on the Dallas Federal Reserve website once about just this same unconventional FED tool.
Very true, but the idiots on ET don't want to accept the fact that the FED has simply been following market rates lower. I keep asking these morons why it is that FED FUNDS continue to trade ABOVE the yield of the 2 year treasury note . . . I have been asking this for the last 3 months, but none of these MORONS are able to give me an answer. Not Aaron Copland Not S2007S Not Detective Not any of these idiots. Excellent post by the way! Someone actually knows something about FED and monetary operations and the DEFLATION that they are seeking to counter-act.
Well whatever it takes to finance this GWB war, I guess. Wasted dollars with nothing in return, we sure don't profit from the oil now do we? And it amazes me that the Iraqi people had an army to defend their country before but apparently they donât have a good enough one anymore. Sure this seems off topic a bit, but I think the spending on the occupation of Iraq is a huge contributor to this problem. It was financed by a false economy that the Fed created (housing bubble) and the collapse of that bubble has not changed the money we spend on that war. That condition alone will further hurt the dollar and added to that are the billions of dollars being spent to support the economy via Fed guarantees. Too much money promised, not enough money coming in. I believe that the free market system wasn't given the time it needed to make loan corrections and will not as long as the government keeps stepping in. Those promises sound a bit like future taxation to me but the guy in the White House now won't have to raise those taxes, he can pass that burden along to the next President. Unless something positive happens soon in the U.S. or unless changes in the global conditions lend support to our economy, this present U.S. situation is bad to state the least. Far from the Goldie Locks Economy that idiot Larry Kudlow used to annoy me with, at any rate. The bottom line is the U.S. is in need of much better leadership. Greenspan screwed up his last couple of years, Bernanke seems like nothing more than a weak minded Bush flunky and I'm not the least bit impressed with any of the new candidates who are running for office. The leadership will soon be faced with a downturn in the commercial real estate market and what then? I think it would be better for Wall Street to get legs with a market based on good revised earnings (falling dollar) and a real growth in the business sector, not the housing sector. Is that possible? Is there anything the leadership can due to help influence that in the near future? The U.S. also has a model to use, Japan. Japan hit the skids when the Japanese Baby Boomers retired when there was too much housing, etc. We are coming up on that phase of our economy soon, within less than 10 years. Adjustments should be made for that, soon. Right now it worries me that fixed rate investments for seniors are nearly worthless. Inflation in fuel and food continues to grow at a faster pace over previous years. Wages climb modestly but should slow if more jobs are lost in the near future. The real value in a house is going down and even those with nearly paid for mortgages might find it harder and less profitable to get a second mortgagee or a reverse mortgage in the future. Somewhere it seems to me that the Fed has to let the free market take some pain so business will stop looking for government help and start moving their assets into fixing the problem. Where is the balance in cutting rates and making bailouts, which started this problem in the first place? What's next, a commodities bubble and stagflation? I hope not but I cannot see how this strategy will avoid it. I think the Fed isn't out of ammo but I'm afraid the ammo is peas and the pea-shooter is getting worn out. Trying to save some banks that went too far might just prolong this downward spiral we seem to be in currently.
I have no time to enlighten you sorry, nor am i interested in saving innocent americans from this mess (sorry). You guys can still count on jim rogers, volcker (almost dead) etc. For me, i'll simply try to get my assets out of this messed up country as fast as possible so that I could ignore it COMPLETELY. no one cares about america.
by the way, Landis don't cry on this board (or on the street) when you lose wealth and see financial disaster full blown.
Bernanke and the Fed governors are trying everything they can to avert 'full blown disaster'. You just don't understand the severity of the situation, that's all.