How is Helicopter Ben doing? (2015, money, financial, recession)
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"Bernanke, now a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution, left the Fed in January 2014 at the end of his second term, after serving eight years as chairman during the turbulent times before and after the 2008 financial crisis. He's also currently a senior advisor to hedge fund Citadel and bond powerhouse Pimco."
And what pray tell is the singular accomplishment of Dear, Dear Ben?
"Charting the course of Bernanke's tenure at the Fed, from the day he took the reins from Alan Greenspan until the day he passed the torch to Chair Janet Yellen, the Dow Jones industrial average gained about 45 percent. But from the depths of the Great Recession in 2009 until Bernanke's departure, blue chips more than doubled."
Mission accomplished. Payment for services tendered.
It's very easy to understand. He printed trillions of dollars for his rich pals and has been appropriately reward. Let's just call it blood money.
Confronted by a Republican Congress that was actively opposed to economic recovery and thus barricaded the door on the closet of expansionary fiscal policy, Bernanke and the Board turned to multiple rounds of quantitative easing, the second-best but only mildly expansionary, tool that monetary authorities have available.
The bond kings made out like bandits (literally) and they rewarded Benny appropriately. It's a little club of multi-billionaires doing what they want unimpeded. Actually not much different from old Royal kingdoms with their serfs.
Much more so than TARP or ARRA, the range of ad hoc and on-the fly asset-swap facilities that Bernanke and Geithner came up with back in the darkest says were what helped stem the tide of the downward spiral that the Bushies left in their wake. The other major prong of recovery was the consensus worked out by Geithner and Obama at the Spring 2009 G-20 summits that put every major economy in the world on the same page. All that was critical to success, so thanks Ben, Tim, and Barack!
Yes, Benny saved the rich Oligarchy from their nasty gambling habits. Now they are richer than ever and Benny is doing just fine.
It is so heartwarming to hear that there are still people who care about and cheer on the super-rich as they steal from the middle-class and poor. I think I am getting teary-eyed. Does anyone have a tissue?
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