I don't see any reasons why a single one of the policies mentioned in the article would "strengthen growth". Economic productivity is not increased by changing the quantity of money or lending, arguably the opposite as it increases uncertainty, and the judgement of a handful of people is in the long run less accurate than that of the market as a whole. There is also a serious confusion between "growth in the next 12 months" and long-term growth, obviously the latter is the important number. The article encapsulates what is wrong with thinking about central banking in general, the last bastion of the folly of central planning.
You have to laugh at someone who subscribes to the notion that growth can be conjured out of thin air merely by the Fed speaking a sentence. One wonders why they don't say an entire paragraph or page, surely we would have abundance for the rest of our lifetimes!
I don't think anybody (even the folks implementing this stuff) thinks these things will be of long-term benefit (or any benefit) to the economy. Its all about holding this thing together with bailing wire until November. It means letting markets know that rates will be 0% forever, it means continued massive asset purchases by the Fed, it means billions more being shoveled into the sinkholes of states and municipalities (lol at anybody who thinks there will be a major state or municipal default in 2010), it means that this country is no different than Mexico which juices everything into the election and then collapses once the incumbents are safely back in office. Will it work? Well, that's the question. I certainly believe that the massive power of the Fed and the national gov't can indeed paper things over for a period of time and both entities will be doubling their efforts over the coming months.
Ben has saved your sorry ass. He sure as fuck knows a lot more about what's going on than you do, or anyone else posting on these boards for that matter.
The reason for yesterdays rally was that shorts were liquidating thus taking some profit off the table. The downtrend will continue as planned.
I bet if we had a poll for the most stupid person on this forum you would definitely win You're even more stupid than Bernanke
It has been obvious for quite a few years that the only real possibility for the US to service its debt is via monetizing. How else in god's name would you do it other than by increasing productivity by quite a bit, and that sure doesn't seem in the cards. (Well, I suppose if you brought medical and defense spending under control that could do it, but what politician is going to go head to head with the AMA or commit political suicide by not "supporting" our boys and girls in uniform? ) As a Fed Chairman, of course you could never come out publicly and announce monetizing as the official policy. Telling the truth could get you into real trouble. I say, Load up on commodities for the inflation that is coming in a few years, if not sooner. The US is a nation of crises. Nothing substantive is done if it's bad politics , until there is no other option. ("bad politics" = ticking off your sources of campaign funds.)