It seems to me the grade is really incomplete.
My issue with Bernake is the continued qualitative easing from 2010 on. I think in the long run the country would have been better off with a return to normalcy. The free market should have set interest rates after the major crisis had passed. Rather than the heavy hand of the Fed keeping rates low and punishing savers.
AndrewJackson said:Anyone who believes that Fed Policy is correct in any shape or form doesn't understand the dynamics of a free market. Outcomes will always end up worse when you have ONE man FIXING the price of the most abundant and important commodity on the planet, money.
If there were ever an honest chairman, here is what they would do:
1. Sell bonds to get balance sheet to pre crisis QE levels.
2. Forgive the remaining debt owed by the US that is held on its books.
3. Remove any operations to fix the price of money and let a completely free market take over.
I'm sorry but this is a stupid question.
Given how far reaching Fed policy has become, it is certainly fair to ask the question. We all have a dog in this fight whether we like it or not.
People have been predicting inflation since the crisis.
Even when deflation was a bigger looming threat.
They even have a name .. inflationista.People have been predicting inflation since the crisis.
From the most recent CPI report, deflation remains a serious threat Consumer Price Index SummaryEven when deflation was a bigger looming threat.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased 0.2 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.5 percent before seasonal adjustment.
HFWR said:So easy to be an armchair quarterback, but let's revisit. YOU are in a meeting with Wall Street [-]crooks[/-] CEOS, all who tell you that within days, if not hours, the entire banking system will collapse.
What will you do?
You have 60 sec...
I thought they did a great job in the face of the crisis with a few exceptions. But the bailouts have long since been repaid. The financial crisis caused by credit default swaps, etc. is history. Big Ben is still throwing Hail Mary's when we are now on to a whole different set of problems. Caused not by wall street but by government intrusion in the market.
Right. Deliberate, and also pretty straightforward.I don't believe he's throwing hail marys at all. He's allowing underwater homeowners to re-fi and governments to finance debt at super low rates, etc. May or may not be the right thing to do, but I don't think it's equivalent to "punting". Pretty deliberate, IMO...
MichaelB said:Well, I don't think any of us have our heads in the sand, even if we don't agree about inflation. When we look around we all see different things, that is why I don't trust my " inflation vision" and instead look for data.
If we had consumer inflation it should show up first in the CPI measure. Even if it did not, it would still appear elsewhere. Revenue growth of consumer staple producers, such as P&G, and retail leaders, such as Wall-Mart - but they are showing no pricing power at all, and no inflation. If the inflation were broad based it would appear as business to business revenue growth, like at IBM, which also has no revenue growth. If it were true economic inflation it would also push up price of labor, which is clearly not the case. Higher inflation would mean the nominal rate of GDP growth would need to be even higher than the anemic numbers we see now.
In a (mostly) self sufficient and competitive economy, broad based inflation just doesn't happen alongside declining wages unless there is a significant increase in credit. For the past 5 years the opposite has been happening, and there is no sign of change.
Right. Deliberate, and also pretty straightforward.
I thought they did a great job in the face of the crisis with a few exceptions. But the bailouts have long since been repaid. The financial crisis caused by credit default swaps, etc. is history. Big Ben is still throwing Hail Mary's when we are now on to a whole different set of problems. Caused not by wall street but by government intrusion in the market.
Markets up AGAIN today. Someone out there is confident in earnings and revenues. They must be using different data than you.
Not sure what point you are trying to make.Markets up AGAIN today. Someone out there is confident in earnings and revenues. They must be using different data than you.
MichaelB said:Not sure what point you are trying to make.
brewer12345 said:I love these threads. they make it so easy to pick out new candidates for my ignore list.