Bloomberg
May 17, 2012
Editor's Note: When all else fails, the Fed says "Print more money!" This will just cause more problems for the middle class as the results of quantitative easing (inflating the monetary system) will be seen in higher consumer prices.
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve signaled further monetary easing remains an option to protect the U.S. economy from the danger that lawmakers will fail to reach agreement on the budget or Europe’s debt woes worsen. (Source: Bloomberg)
Showing posts with label Ben Bernanke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Bernanke. Show all posts
Bernanke's Warning: WE'RE HIT LIKE A SOUP SANDWICH!!!
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
April 12, 2012
Infowars.com
April 12, 2012
Earlier this week, Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke again warned that out of control borrowing and spending will eventually destroy the country.
Said Ben to the the Budget Committee:
Sustained high rates of government borrowing would both drain funds away from private investment and increase our debt to foreigners, with adverse long-run effects on U.S. output, incomes, and standards of living. Moreover, diminishing investor confidence that deficits will be brought under control would ultimately lead to sharply rising interest rates on government debt and, potentially, to broader financial turmoil. In a vicious circle, high and rising interest rates would cause debt-service payments on the federal debt to grow even faster, resulting in further increases in the debt-to-GDP ratio and making fiscal adjustment all the more difficult.
But here is something Bernanke didn’t mention – a large chunk of that debt is owed to the Federal Reserve. In February, the corporate media fessed up to this undeniable fact. FromCNBC:
That’s right, the biggest single holder of U.S. government debt is inside the United States and includes the Federal Reserve system and other intragovernmental holdings. Of this number, The Fed’s system of banks owns approximately $1.65 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities (as of January 2012), while other U.S. intragovernmental holdings – which include large funds such as the Medicare Trust Fund and the Social Security Trust Fund - hold the rest.
The bankers that own the Federal Reserve love debt and that’s why they continually expand the money supply.
“Without the Fed’s relentless expansion of the money supply during both the Greenspan and Bernanke eras, the U.S. Treasury never would have been able to issue the staggering sums of debt that now threaten our economic well being,” Ron Paul told the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy last year. “This Treasury debt is the very lifeblood of deficit spending, permitting one Congress after another to spend far more than the Treasury collects in taxes. It is precisely this unholy alliance between the enabling Fed and a spendthrift Congress that I hope our witnesses will address today.”
It’s a great situation for the warheads in the Pentagon and the military industrial complex. Excluding Social Security and other “trust funds” (no pun intended), the Pentagon spends most of this money. Flush with trillions, they are free to continue and expand the wars necessary for the globalists to extend their reach (as they are now doing in Africa).
The debt wrecking ball is doing a fine job of destroying the middle class and making sure America becomes another third world cesspool like Mexico and eventually sub-Sahara Africa. As of last year, the debt officially exceeded 100% of the nation’s gross domestic product, in other words the debt is now as big as everything we produce in America.
In order to pay off this staggering debt, the Federal Reserve will print more money out of thin air and expand the money supply which will lead to more inflation that will whittle away at the middle class and the living standards of all Americans.
“Greece, and more precisely Italy and Spain, are our ghosts of the future past. The Fed will print more money. That’s what they do. They work for the banks,” Capital Waves StrategistShah Gilani told Business Insider in January.
The Greek dilemma is coming to America. The debt owed by Greece was 160% of that country’s GDP last August and the average yield on Greek debt was around 15%. “Thus, if Greece’s debt is rolled over without restructuring, its interest costs alone will amount to approximately 24% of GDP. In other words, if debt pardoning does not occur, nearly a quarter of Greece’s economic output will be gobbled up by interest repayments,” writes Puru Saxenafor 321 Gold.
In August, Ron Paul introduced HR 2768, legislation designed to cancel $1.6 trillion in debt. “I would say that is not a real debt. It’s a fictitious debt. It’s a dishonest debt, and that we’re not obligated,” he said.
HR 2768 disappeared into the maw of a congressional committee and will likely never be seen again. A previous bill introduced by Ron Paul, Audit the Fed, was severely adulterated under pressure exacted by the Federal Reserve and the Obama administration. In June of 2010, the bill failed by a vote of 229-198.
Bernanke’s remarks earlier this week serve as a warning of things to come. His “fiscal adjustments” (i.e., tax increases and the entire palette of IMF styled austerity) will indeed “come as a rapid and painful response to a looming or actual fiscal crisis,” one designed by a cartel of international bankers who specialize in the destruction of nations, fire sales, and wholesale misery.
Ron Paul offered an escape hatch, but it was shuffled off to the oblivion of a congressional committee.
Soon enough, we will suffer the result.
Ron Paul Confronts Bernanke: “Do You Buy Your Own Groceries?”
Tense stand off as Congressman notes Fed is destroying dollar purchasing power
GOP presidential candidate Ron paul took a break from campaigning today and diverted his attention back to his role on the House Financial Services Committee with the semiannual visit of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
In a scathing opening statement, Paul went on the offensive against the Fed:
“What we are witnessing today is the end stages of a grand experiment,” Paul said, adding that the Fed’s control over the nation’s money supply has directly caused economic bubbles and all but destroyed the purchasing power of the dollar.
Noting that the Fed will soon end because it is facilitating too much debt, the Congressman added “I’m anxiously waiting for this day… Reform has to come.”
Turning his attention to Bernanke, Paul asked the Fed chairman whether he did his own grocery shopping. A somewhat bemused Bernanke replied in the affirmative, to which Paul hit back “OK. So you’re aware of the prices,” before commenting on government denial of real levels of inflation.
“This argument of prices going up two percent, nobody believes it.” Paul said. “The old CPI says prices are going up at nine percent.”
“People on fixed incomes, they are really hurting. The middle class is really hurting. Because their inflation rate is very much higher than the government tries to tell them, and that’s why they lose trust in government.”
“You say inflation is about 2%, I say 9%, let’s just call it 5%,” Paul told Bernanke. “That inflation is taking money away from the people….Someone is stealing wealth and this is very upsetting”
The Congressman then pulled out a silver eagle, explaining that it has retained it’s real worth and that hard assets should be used as currency as outlined in the Constitution.
Telling Bernanke that in 2006, when he took over at the Fed, an ounce of silver bought about 4 gallons of gas, where as today it will buy 11 gallons. “That’s preservation of value,” said Paul.
Paul called for a competing currency to the dollar, stating that the laws should be changed to allow precious metals to settle contract disputes and other legal obligations.
Bernanke addressed Paul by jokingly saying “good to see you again, Congressman”, before somewhat derisively saying he would be happy to consider the Congressman’s ideas and help him work out what currencies to hold.
Paul hit back by saying the government goes after those who attempt to use gold and silver as alternatives to depreciating Federal Reserve notes as if they are criminals, telling Bernanke “the record of what you’ve done is destroy the currency,”
Watch the video below:
——————————————————————
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, andPrisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
Bernanke Fights Ron Paul In Congress: Gold Isn’t Money
Agustino Fontevecchia
Forbes
July 13, 2011
Chairman Ben Bernanke faced-off with Fed-hating Representative Ron Paul during his monetary policy report to Congress on Wednesday. The head of the Fed was forced to respond to accusations of enriching already rich corporations while failing to help Main Street, while he was pushed on his views on gold. “Gold isn’t money,” Bernanke said.
Forbes
July 13, 2011
Chairman Ben Bernanke faced-off with Fed-hating Representative Ron Paul during his monetary policy report to Congress on Wednesday. The head of the Fed was forced to respond to accusations of enriching already rich corporations while failing to help Main Street, while he was pushed on his views on gold. “Gold isn’t money,” Bernanke said.
IMF -"International Mafia Federation" Loan Sharks of Last Resort
SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
July 3, 2011
In spite of the massive protesting by the tax paying protestors in Greece ( those who are tired and fed up with the looting of their hard earned savings), Greek lawmakers have once again bowed to the IMF and the EU, in passing a second Austerity Bill in order to keep Greece from defaulting by mid- July.
Gerald Celente has referred to the IMF as the "International Mafia Federation", and has said so with good reason. Gerald says they are nothing more than international "loan sharks" of last resort. This can be backed up by a Fox News report that stated:
If you would like to hear a simplified but true explanation of the IMF's role, then Gerald Celente has just the perception to see how they work:
Of course in this Austerity Bill passed by the Greek Parliment, equal opportunity is a must in that they have placed taxe increases even on the lowest-income families.
Although this move by the Greek Parliment has been a "decisive step Greece needed to take in order to return to a sustainable path." and that "In very difficult circumstances, it was another act of national responsibility,” this measure will only help Greece to hold out until around September!
And since the last bailout from the IMF to Greece hasn't helped, it is more than probable that this bailout will likely end in the same way... more debt on Greece with no answers.
The International Mafia Federation is nothing more than an instrument of globalists to take over countries' wealth and resources, and unfortunately they are doing a pretty good job!
Many of the people in Greece see this plan as a direct threat to their wealth and general well-being as a nation, and are highly opposed to the measure, resorting to protests and violence in defense of what liberties and material possessions they still have.
Here in the U.S., the people are now starting to feel the effects of the failed bailouts, and entitlements that have pushed our country to the brink of economic collapse as well. There are still those who believe Obama's worn out speeches of recovery, who refuse to "see the forest in spite of the trees" as they say.
The same problems that are hitting Greece will inevitably come to America. As the industrialized nations collapse, international organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, BIS (Bank of International Settlements) and The United Nations will take over.
The IMF is also leaning on lawmakers here in the U.S. to raise the debt ceiling. John Lipsky, Managing Director of the IMF stated:
In an interview on Fox News June 22, 2011 Peter stated Bernanke's assessment of the current economic situation in the U.S. is inaccurate, and that the economy will continue to worsen with unemployment escalating, and the inflation will be much higher than what the Fed Chairman is reporting. Peter also stated that Greece is just a small picture of what is coming to America.
Mark Matheny
July 3, 2011
In spite of the massive protesting by the tax paying protestors in Greece ( those who are tired and fed up with the looting of their hard earned savings), Greek lawmakers have once again bowed to the IMF and the EU, in passing a second Austerity Bill in order to keep Greece from defaulting by mid- July.
Gerald Celente has referred to the IMF as the "International Mafia Federation", and has said so with good reason. Gerald says they are nothing more than international "loan sharks" of last resort. This can be backed up by a Fox News report that stated:
You may notice the word "demanded " in the condition of Greece's $159 billion package.The European Union and International Monetary Fund had demanded Parliament pass two bills — an austerity law and a second bill detailing how it will be implemented — by June 30 before they approve a $17.3 billion installment from the country's $159 billion package.
If you would like to hear a simplified but true explanation of the IMF's role, then Gerald Celente has just the perception to see how they work:
"Here's what they do - They go into a country that's really desparate, they can't borrow a dime anywhere, and the IMF comes in, and they say - Ay, I'll loan you the money! But how are you going to pay me back?"Then with that rhetorical question, Gerald shows how the IMF already has the answer for the country:
"You tax the people, you put more taxes on 'em. And so you (the country in desparate need) tax the people, you don't get enough and they (the IMF) say, Listen - I'm not getting enough money, I want the bridge! ... I want the bridge! I want the highway! I want the water supply! Capish?"
Of course in this Austerity Bill passed by the Greek Parliment, equal opportunity is a must in that they have placed taxe increases even on the lowest-income families.
Although this move by the Greek Parliment has been a "decisive step Greece needed to take in order to return to a sustainable path." and that "In very difficult circumstances, it was another act of national responsibility,” this measure will only help Greece to hold out until around September!
And since the last bailout from the IMF to Greece hasn't helped, it is more than probable that this bailout will likely end in the same way... more debt on Greece with no answers.
The International Mafia Federation is nothing more than an instrument of globalists to take over countries' wealth and resources, and unfortunately they are doing a pretty good job!
Many of the people in Greece see this plan as a direct threat to their wealth and general well-being as a nation, and are highly opposed to the measure, resorting to protests and violence in defense of what liberties and material possessions they still have.
Here in the U.S., the people are now starting to feel the effects of the failed bailouts, and entitlements that have pushed our country to the brink of economic collapse as well. There are still those who believe Obama's worn out speeches of recovery, who refuse to "see the forest in spite of the trees" as they say.
The same problems that are hitting Greece will inevitably come to America. As the industrialized nations collapse, international organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, BIS (Bank of International Settlements) and The United Nations will take over.
The IMF is also leaning on lawmakers here in the U.S. to raise the debt ceiling. John Lipsky, Managing Director of the IMF stated:
It looks as though our representatives in Washington will raise the debt ceiling, and pass some cuts to the budget that will not amount to a hill of beans. Peter Schiff has predicted that Greece would indeed accept more loans from the IMF, that the Fed will continue with more quantitative easing, and that the U.S. government will raise the debt ceiling.We’re confident that the participants are well aware of the potential risks of a debt default in the U.S. and will avoid those dangers. It should be self-evident [that] a debt default by the U. S. government debt market would have very serious, far-reaching, dramatic repercussions and that’s why we’re confident that it will be avoided.
In an interview on Fox News June 22, 2011 Peter stated Bernanke's assessment of the current economic situation in the U.S. is inaccurate, and that the economy will continue to worsen with unemployment escalating, and the inflation will be much higher than what the Fed Chairman is reporting. Peter also stated that Greece is just a small picture of what is coming to America.
Bernanke Leaves Door Open to Further Easing
Bloomberg
June 23, 2011
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke left the door open to a fresh shot of monetary stimulus should the economic rebound he’s predicting fail to materialize.
The Fed would be “prepared to take additional action, obviously, if conditions warranted,” including the purchase of more Treasury securities, Bernanke said yesterday after U.S. central bankers met in Washington. The economy will probably overcome constraints from elevated energy prices and Japan- related disruptions to manufacturing, he said. Still, declining home prices, high unemployment and weaknesses in the financial system may restrain the recovery in the longer term, he said.
Policy makers in a statement yesterday acknowledged the slowdown even as they agreed to complete $600 billion in bond- buying as scheduled this month in the second round of so-called quantitative easing. While the outlook for employment and inflation is better than before the latest bond purchases, Bernanke said he’s not sure how long the economic headwinds will persist. Stocks fell in New York trading.
“Bernanke’s remarks kept that door open” to more bond buying, said former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley, currently senior economic adviser at Potomac Research Group in Washington. “The hurdle for QE3 is obviously high. But if large downside risks materialize and the economy slows enough so that the unemployment rate starts to increase again, QE3 would have to be considered.”
One of those risks is a debt default by Greece, which could “roil financial markets globally,” including bonds and stocks, and potentially have a “quite significant” impact in the U.S., Bernanke told reporters at his second post-meeting press conference.
Read the entire article
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| Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke |
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke left the door open to a fresh shot of monetary stimulus should the economic rebound he’s predicting fail to materialize.
The Fed would be “prepared to take additional action, obviously, if conditions warranted,” including the purchase of more Treasury securities, Bernanke said yesterday after U.S. central bankers met in Washington. The economy will probably overcome constraints from elevated energy prices and Japan- related disruptions to manufacturing, he said. Still, declining home prices, high unemployment and weaknesses in the financial system may restrain the recovery in the longer term, he said.
Policy makers in a statement yesterday acknowledged the slowdown even as they agreed to complete $600 billion in bond- buying as scheduled this month in the second round of so-called quantitative easing. While the outlook for employment and inflation is better than before the latest bond purchases, Bernanke said he’s not sure how long the economic headwinds will persist. Stocks fell in New York trading.
“Bernanke’s remarks kept that door open” to more bond buying, said former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley, currently senior economic adviser at Potomac Research Group in Washington. “The hurdle for QE3 is obviously high. But if large downside risks materialize and the economy slows enough so that the unemployment rate starts to increase again, QE3 would have to be considered.”
One of those risks is a debt default by Greece, which could “roil financial markets globally,” including bonds and stocks, and potentially have a “quite significant” impact in the U.S., Bernanke told reporters at his second post-meeting press conference.
Read the entire article
We Are Change Confront Bankster Ben Bernanke
Infowars.com
May 13, 2011
Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke was clearly miffed at Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change, who had the gall to grill the globalist minion on the elite’s plan to wreck the economy.
May 13, 2011
Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke was clearly miffed at Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change, who had the gall to grill the globalist minion on the elite’s plan to wreck the economy.
Critics Say Fed Policies Devalue the U.S. Dollar
Foxnews.com
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April 15: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, left, sits with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner before a meeting of the G-20 at the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 2011 in Washington.
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April 27, 2011
For generations of Americans raised on the supremacy of the American Dollar and the U.S. economy, a forecast this week from the International Monetary Fund was stunning. It predicted that China's economy will surpass that of the U.S. in five years.
Industrialization and cheap labor in emerging economies, like China’s, coupled with two years of a domestic financial crisis may have weakened the U.S. economy. But some also wonder whether U.S. monetary policies have played a part too.
"One of the fundamental problems with the U.S. economy right now is the Federal Reserve thinks the answer to all our economic problems is printing money," says Stephen Moore, a senior economics writer and editorial board member at the Wall Street Journal. "We haven't created new jobs from all of this printing of money, but what we have produced is inflation in prices."
Printing money, or “quantitative easing” as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has termed it, increases the supply of money but critics say it can potentially lower the value of almost anything that can be purchased.
And, it can devalue the currency -- something that critics contend has already happened. For example, a dollar is worth 11 cents less today against the euro than it was last year.
‘Anonymous’ puts central banks on notice, demands Bernanke resign
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| Anonymous Logo |
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Decentralized protest group "Anonymous" has encountered many foes in the past: Sarah Palin, PayPal, the Church of Scientology, MasterCard, the Westboro Baptists and even the governments of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, to name a few.
But now, one of the group's members has issued a call for perhaps their most audacious campaign yet: civil disobedience against the private central banking system that underpins all the world's industrial economies.
In a little-noticed video published Sunday, one "Anonymous" calls for the dawning of "Operation Empire State Rebellion": a "relentless campaign of peaceful resistance" against organizations that participate in they termed the "control" of large populations through pieces of paper and bits of data.
They also called for US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's resignation.
It reamains to be seen whether this operation will succeed in drawing the support of other members of "Anonymous." It was also unclear what exactly they had planned, or even if they could prove to be more than mere annoyance to the world's banking cartels.
But then again, ostensibly the same group did take down MasterCard for a day.
However, as with most "Anonymous" operations, it was impossible to say whether this proposal came from a known member of the group, someone on its fringes or a source outside of "Anonymous" entirely.
Read the entire article
Is Bernanke headed for QE3?
Theglobeandmail.com
December 6, 2010
The Federal Reserve could end up buying more than the $600-billion in U.S. government bonds it has committed to purchase if the economy fails to respond or unemployment stays too high, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said.
December 6, 2010
The Federal Reserve could end up buying more than the $600-billion in U.S. government bonds it has committed to purchase if the economy fails to respond or unemployment stays too high, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said.
In a rare televised interview, Mr. Bernanke told the CBS program 60 Minutes the Fed’s actions are aimed at supporting what is still a fragile economic recovery, dismissing critics who argue the policy will lead to future inflation.
“This fear of inflation I think is way overstated,” Mr. Bernanke said in the interview aired on Sunday.
“What we’re doing is lowering interest rates by buying Treasury securities,” he said. “And by lowering interest rates, we hope to stimulate the economy to grow faster. The trick is to find the appropriate moment when to begin to unwind this policy. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Mr. Bernanke said it would take four to five years for the country’s unemployment rate, which rose to 9.8 per cent in November, to come down to what he called more “normal” levels of around 5 per cent to 6 per cent.
The Facts of Life
By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.
(MarketWatch) — This may come as a surprise to Ben Bernanke, but more inflation and lower interest rates do not go together. Never did; never will.
Having pushed short-term interest rates as low as they can go, the Federal Reserve chairman is now setting his sights on long-term interest rates. He wants lower bond yields, thinking that such rates will encourage both lending and borrowing.
It goes without saying that lower long rates will tempt more people and businesses to borrow. However, lower rates on long-term Treasurys can also serve as an inducement to the banks to lend, since they will be able to obtain a higher return from such a loan than they can from a buying a Treasury.
But this is not all. The Fed head also wants to boost the rate of inflation, which is certainly possible ( See my column of Oct. 19). He figures that rising prices will encourage people to step up their spending before prices go even higher. In turn, this will give a lift to the struggling economy.
In setting his sights on achieving these twin objectives, Dr. Bernanke apparently thinks that he can change the way the financial markets operate. He will soon learn that he can’t.
Read the entire report
The Federal Reserve's latest quantitative easing may lead to disaster
QE2 may create the very conditions for a bubble and a new collapse that the Fed dreads
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It's November 2012 and Barack Obama is living out the last few weeks of his one-term presidency. History is being made for a second time: the first black commander in chief replaced by the first female holder of that exalted office after Sarah Palin's victory.
After his defeat, Obama is asked when it all went wrong. Looking back, he says, the key moment was 3 November 2010, the day after mid-term elections went badly for the Democrats, when the Federal Reserve took the decision to pump an extra $600bn (£370bn) into the US economy by creating new electronic money.
This, of course, is conjecture. Obama's poll ratings remain reasonable despite the economy, and Democrats are confident moderate voters will be put off by the stridency of the Tea Party when they vote in the 2012 race for the White House.
Read the entire article
RBS tells clients to prepare for 'monster' money-printing by the Federal Reserve
As recovery starts to stall in the US and Europe with echoes of mid-1931, bond experts are once again dusting off a speech by Ben Bernanke given eight years ago as a freshman governor at the Federal Reserve.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Published: 5:11PM BST 27 Jun 2010
Entitled "Deflation: Making Sure It Doesn’t Happen Here", it is a warfare manual for defeating economic slumps by use of extreme monetary stimulus once interest rates have dropped to zero, and implicitly once governments have spent themselves to near bankruptcy.
The speech is best known for its irreverent one-liner: "The US government has a technology, called a printing press, that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost."
Investors basking in Wall Street's V-shaped rally had assumed that this bizarre episode was over. So did the Fed, which has been shutting liquidity spigots one by one. But the latest batch of data is disturbing.
The ECRI leading indicator produced by the Economic Cycle Research Institute plummeted yet again last week to -6.9, pointing to contraction in the US by the end of the year. It is dropping faster that at any time in the post-War era.
The latest data from the CPB Netherlands Bureau shows that world trade slid 1.7pc in May, with the biggest fall in Asia. The Baltic Dry Index measuring freight rates on bulk goods has dropped 40pc in a month. This is a volatile index that can be distorted by the supply of new ships, but those who watch it as an early warning signal for China and commodities are nervous.
Andrew Roberts, credit chief at RBS, is advising clients to read the Bernanke text very closely because the Fed is soon going to have to the pull the lever on "monster" quantitative easing (QE)".
"We cannot stress enough how strongly we believe that a cliff-edge may be around the corner, for the global banking system (particularly in Europe) and for the global economy. Think the unthinkable," he said in a note to investors.
Read the entire article
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Published: 5:11PM BST 27 Jun 2010
Entitled "Deflation: Making Sure It Doesn’t Happen Here", it is a warfare manual for defeating economic slumps by use of extreme monetary stimulus once interest rates have dropped to zero, and implicitly once governments have spent themselves to near bankruptcy.
The speech is best known for its irreverent one-liner: "The US government has a technology, called a printing press, that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost."
Bernanke began putting the script into action after the credit system seized up in 2008, purchasing $1.75 trillion of Treasuries, mortgage securities, and agency bonds to shore up the US credit system. He stopped far short of the $5 trillion balance sheet quietly pencilled in by the Fed Board as the upper limit for quantitative easing (QE).
"The US government has a technology, called a printing press, that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost." -Ben Bernanke
Investors basking in Wall Street's V-shaped rally had assumed that this bizarre episode was over. So did the Fed, which has been shutting liquidity spigots one by one. But the latest batch of data is disturbing.
The ECRI leading indicator produced by the Economic Cycle Research Institute plummeted yet again last week to -6.9, pointing to contraction in the US by the end of the year. It is dropping faster that at any time in the post-War era.
The latest data from the CPB Netherlands Bureau shows that world trade slid 1.7pc in May, with the biggest fall in Asia. The Baltic Dry Index measuring freight rates on bulk goods has dropped 40pc in a month. This is a volatile index that can be distorted by the supply of new ships, but those who watch it as an early warning signal for China and commodities are nervous.
Andrew Roberts, credit chief at RBS, is advising clients to read the Bernanke text very closely because the Fed is soon going to have to the pull the lever on "monster" quantitative easing (QE)".
"We cannot stress enough how strongly we believe that a cliff-edge may be around the corner, for the global banking system (particularly in Europe) and for the global economy. Think the unthinkable," he said in a note to investors.
Read the entire article
Fed rage boils over on Capitol Hill
Ben Bernanke will win confirmation to a second term as head of the central bank. But it won't be pretty. The movement in Congress to rein the Fed in is gaining steam.
By Jennifer Liberto, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: November 23, 2009: 12:48 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a tough road ahead.
Very tough.
Bernanke, whose four-year term expires in January, is certain to face a contentious Senate banking panel at his confirmation hearing, set for Dec. 3. He is also defending against the sharpest attack on Federal Reserve powers ever.
The latest blow came last week, when a House panel overwhelmingly agreed to tack on to must-pass regulatory reform a proposal to dig into the Fed's books, despite attempts by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., to make it less intrusive.
Fed watchers say they expect that Bernanke will be confirmed for a second term as chairman. But he may get the fewest favorable votes on record - and end up at the helm of a vastly changed Federal Reserve.
Read the entire story
7 yr old explains the U.S. Monetary System
http://werhit-mathenyahu.blogspot.com
August 11TH, 2009
Mark Matheny
Yahshua Matheny sits down with Mark to explain the monetary system in the U.S.
Maybe he should take Ben Bernanke's place as Head of the Federal Reserve!
Tell us what you think!!!!!
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