Bernanke spouts off again today..

[hipmatt]

I got a few good laughs today at the idiot fed chairman while watching CNBC this morning.. a few notes ..

Bernanke says:

Inflation is moderating nicely and doesn’t look like it will be a problem… HA.. unless you drive, eat, pay utilities, and get completely free health care.

Then he says..Weak dollar isn’t a problem, and that a strong economy will fix it, not monetary policy.. HA HA printing tons of money and slashing interest rates have nothing to do with the fall of the dollar.. right?

Then he says.. housing is slowing, but it isn’t spilling over into the broader economy… HA HA..

Then he says.. and this is my favorite.. the ecconomy is slowing a bit, but in spring of 08, it will pick back up and strengthen again… HA HA HA… ohh

I was starting to feel SOME empathy for the US gov. and the fed, but not anymore. What an idiot to get out there and spin things so rosy.

In six months when housing is tanking worse, the financials are falling apart even more, employment data starts to head south, consumer spending slows further, and the dollar is even weaker, can there even be anything left for Bernanke to spin off in his, there are no big problems way?

[cr]

I saw some of his speech this morning on CNBC. He looked pretty nervous and completely waffled on the follow up questions.

He also completely refused to speculate the likelihood of a recession, which to me is an answer in itself.

He’ll be able to blame sub-prime on the demise of financials for a while but he’s screwed no matter what now:

If he cuts rates:
– It won’t be enough to save the mortgage banks
– It will further weaken the dollar
– It will piss off the Chinese which BB isn’t “overly conerned about”

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

If he raises rates:
– The dollar will be respectable eventually again
– The sub-prime mortgage crisis will play out much quicker
– Stocks will fall

Somewhere Alan Greenspan is laughing…

…but hiding.

[cr]

I saw some of his speech this morning on CNBC. He looked pretty nervous and completely waffled on the follow up questions.

He also completely refused to speculate the likelihood of a recession, which to me is an answer in itself.

He’ll be able to blame sub-prime on the demise of financials for a while but he’s screwed no matter what now:

If he cuts rates:
– It won’t be enough to save the mortgage banks
– It will further weaken the dollar
– It will piss off the Chinese which BB isn’t “overly conerned about”

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

If he raises rates:
– The dollar will be respectable eventually again
– The sub-prime mortgage crisis will play out much quicker
– Stocks will fall

Somewhere Alan Greenspan is laughing…

…but hiding.

[cr]

I saw some of his speech this morning on CNBC. He looked pretty nervous and completely waffled on the follow up questions.

He also completely refused to speculate the likelihood of a recession, which to me is an answer in itself.

He’ll be able to blame sub-prime on the demise of financials for a while but he’s screwed no matter what now:

If he cuts rates:
– It won’t be enough to save the mortgage banks
– It will further weaken the dollar
– It will piss off the Chinese which BB isn’t “overly conerned about”

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

If he raises rates:
– The dollar will be respectable eventually again
– The sub-prime mortgage crisis will play out much quicker
– Stocks will fall

Somewhere Alan Greenspan is laughing…

…but hiding.

[cr]

I saw some of his speech this morning on CNBC. He looked pretty nervous and completely waffled on the follow up questions.

He also completely refused to speculate the likelihood of a recession, which to me is an answer in itself.

He’ll be able to blame sub-prime on the demise of financials for a while but he’s screwed no matter what now:

If he cuts rates:
– It won’t be enough to save the mortgage banks
– It will further weaken the dollar
– It will piss off the Chinese which BB isn’t “overly conerned about”

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

If he raises rates:
– The dollar will be respectable eventually again
– The sub-prime mortgage crisis will play out much quicker
– Stocks will fall

Somewhere Alan Greenspan is laughing…

…but hiding.

[patientlywaiting]

Does anyone remember the Fed prediction a recession? They simply won’t tell us what they know, or they are lousy at what they do. Either way, it’s not good for the transparency that Bernanke promised.

[patientlywaiting]

Does anyone remember the Fed prediction a recession? They simply won’t tell us what they know, or they are lousy at what they do. Either way, it’s not good for the transparency that Bernanke promised.

[patientlywaiting]

Does anyone remember the Fed prediction a recession? They simply won’t tell us what they know, or they are lousy at what they do. Either way, it’s not good for the transparency that Bernanke promised.

[patientlywaiting]

Does anyone remember the Fed prediction a recession? They simply won’t tell us what they know, or they are lousy at what they do. Either way, it’s not good for the transparency that Bernanke promised.

[no_such_reality]

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

I disagree.

If he leaves rates:
– the dollar will weaken even more.
– Wall Street will crater because, he’s doing nothing and the dollar is weaker.

[no_such_reality]

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

I disagree.

If he leaves rates:
– the dollar will weaken even more.
– Wall Street will crater because, he’s doing nothing and the dollar is weaker.

[no_such_reality]

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

I disagree.

If he leaves rates:
– the dollar will weaken even more.
– Wall Street will crater because, he’s doing nothing and the dollar is weaker.

[no_such_reality]

If he leaves rates:
– The dollar will at best stabilize at it’s lowest point ever
– Wall Street will have another sell-off

I disagree.

If he leaves rates:
– the dollar will weaken even more.
– Wall Street will crater because, he’s doing nothing and the dollar is weaker.

[bsrsharma]

hipmatt – Macroeconomics is messy due to large number of variables. Actually, Bernanke is being correct on his statements.

1. Inflation is moderating – The fact that house prices are falling at the rate of at least 10% per year nationally and even upto 50% in some isolated markets means overall inflation has to come down. If a person spends, say 30% of income on housing, and house prices fall 10% per year, that alone contributes 3% per year of annual deflation.

2. Weak $ is a plus in some respects – it reduces trade deficits, increases exports, that in turn causes rise in employment etc., Weak $ only hurts importers and people with large accounts of cash (or cash equivalents). Since most Americans have net negative cash (or cash equivalent) – being in net debt generally, inflation is actually not bad for them.

Rest of the statements, I won’t attempt to side with BB since I don’t agree with him. But surely that man is not an idiot. He is just interpreting the data differently.

[bsrsharma]

hipmatt – Macroeconomics is messy due to large number of variables. Actually, Bernanke is being correct on his statements.

1. Inflation is moderating – The fact that house prices are falling at the rate of at least 10% per year nationally and even upto 50% in some isolated markets means overall inflation has to come down. If a person spends, say 30% of income on housing, and house prices fall 10% per year, that alone contributes 3% per year of annual deflation.

2. Weak $ is a plus in some respects – it reduces trade deficits, increases exports, that in turn causes rise in employment etc., Weak $ only hurts importers and people with large accounts of cash (or cash equivalents). Since most Americans have net negative cash (or cash equivalent) – being in net debt generally, inflation is actually not bad for them.

Rest of the statements, I won’t attempt to side with BB since I don’t agree with him. But surely that man is not an idiot. He is just interpreting the data differently.

[Author]

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