Begin the Bernanking

[Safetykitten]

Here we go, The Fed as the benevolent force that watches over us all as we sleep...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/28/ben-bernanke-long-term-unemployment_n_986291.html

"There are certainly some areas where other policymakers could contribute," he said.

This one, a gem.

"Monetary policy can do a lot, but monetary policy is not a panacea,"

or...China our model.

"He said the successful emerging economies such as China had adopted disciplined budget policies, embraced freed trade, made public investments and supported education."

"Advanced economies like the United States would do well to re-learn some of the lessons from the experiences of the emerging market economies, such as the importance of disciplined fiscal policies," Bernanke said."

[midnight]

1. This is why he is unbelievable...

The $700 billion dollar TARP bailout was a massive bait-and-switch. The government said it was doing it to soak up toxic assets, and then switched to saying it was needed to free up lending. It didn’t do that either. Indeed, the Fed doesn’t want the banks to lend.



The bailout money is just going to line the pockets of the wealthy, instead of helping to stabilize the economy or even the companies receiving the bailouts:

Bailout money is being used to subsidize companies run by horrible business men, allowing the bankers to receive fat bonuses, to redecorate their offices, and to buy gold toilets and prostitutes
A lot of the bailout money is going to the failing companies’ shareholders
Indeed, a leading progressive economist says that the true purpose of the bank rescue plans is “a massive redistribution of wealth to the bank shareholders and their top executives”
The Treasury Department encouraged banks to use the bailout money to buy their competitors, and pushed through an amendment to the tax laws which rewards mergers in the banking industry (this has caused a lot of companies to bite off more than they can chew, destabilizing the acquiring companies)
And as the New York Times notes, “Tens of billions of dollars have merely passed through A.I.G. to its derivatives trading partners”.

***



But the TARP bailout is peanuts compared to the numerous other bailouts the government has given to the giant banks. http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/01/government-says-no-to-helping-states-and-main-street-while-continuing-to-throw-trillions-at-the-giant-banks.html