After Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared on 60 Minutes last night, few noted little from his speech besides his insistence that the recession should calm by the end of 2009 and signs of recovery might start popping up like little spring buds beneath the melting snow of a cold hard winter some time in 2010. The man is delusional at best, and the markets reacted by snapping a three-day upward swing (if you call 2 or 3 points “upward”). Sadly, Bernanke’s song and dance on national television resonated across America as a sign that things might be looking up. Hell, if this guy says everything is going to be okay, who are we to question?
Well the answer is simple, and if I’ve got to explain to you what is wrong with last night’s appearance, perhaps you’re not grown up enough to be using the computer without supervision. Turn it off, curl up into a ball, and commence to existing with your head in the sand, k?
In case you missed it, Bernanke’s national TV debut may be found in 3 parts here, here, and here. How cute, Helicopter Ben even cleaned up for his interview. That’s absolutely adorable.
Hidden in the midst of Bernanke’s interview, a little-noticed point on the Fed’s action in the face of economic crisis. While the conservatives continue to rail against the endless bailouts on behalf of helpless taxpayers believing that the Fed and Treasury promises are funded by actual taxpayer cash, Chairman Bernanke spilled the beans last night and said in no uncertain terms that his Fed is in fact funding bailouts using a process “more akin to printing money than it is borrowing.”
Average Joe reading this article, or even the most enlightened of conservatives, may not even think twice about the issue. Who cares? Isn’t it the Fed’s job to print money?
Under normal circumstances, absolutely. But in these conditions, Bernanke’s quantitative easing scheme will be the end of the dollar as we know it. Does he believe that inflation is so low that his agency has the right to crank up the presses to cover the incessant bailout of commercial banking interests at the detriment of our economy? This equates to criminal currency debasement and should absolutely be treated as such.
For our Fed chair to believe he can boldly state on national television just days after a warning from the United States’ largest creditor that we better not use the printing press to stem financial crisis is not only moronic but may send China reeling against our pleas for help in unloading our debt. And if China pushes back on Treasurys, we might as well consider the game over.
You as an American taxpayer have every right to be angry over the bailouts. And you should still believe that taxpayers are some how on the hook for this. But you as an American under the Federal Reserve’s control should be absolutely outraged to hear Bernanke boasting that his Fed is cranking up the press to the tune of some $2 trillion to cover its creative lending programs. AIG has fed at the government teat FOUR TIMES and funneling bailout funds to foreign banks due to its own irresponsible financial products risk management. But $2 trillion on the taxpayers’ behalf means little when the Fed is using the press to pump capital into floundering firms on your dime – the savings you’ve worked your life to put away? Doesn’t matter when the Fed has fully debased the currency. Is 97% of the dollar’s value lost since its inception in 1913 not enough?
The recession will only worsen moving forward if the Fed and Treasury continue to sabotage any hope at recovery by throwing billions more into the sinking ship.
Unemployment will continue to surge.
The Fed will continue to overstep its given powers by Congress and Congress will continue to allow such a fleecing until someone on Capitol Hill stops looking the other way and demands an audit of this private and essentially unregulated agency.
And Ben Bernanke will continue to crank up the press. Here’s to hoping China doesn’t notice or else we’re really in trouble.
