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Location: Sitting on a bar stool. Guinness in hand.
4,428 posts, read 6,511,190 times
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Bernanke: Danger of downturn appears to have faded - Yahoo! News (broken link)
Quote:
Despite a recent spike in the nation's unemployment rate, the danger that the economy has fallen into a "substantial downturn" appears to have waned, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday.
Hmmmmmmmmmm......what does a "substantial downturn" look like Chairman Bernanke? I just want to know.
Bernanke: Danger of downturn appears to have faded - Yahoo! News (broken link)
Hmmmmmmmmmm......what does a "substantial downturn" look like Chairman Bernanke? I just want to know.
What do you want the guy to say? Yes, we are printing money like there is no tomorrow. Yes we are diminishing your purchasing power. Yes there are TONS of foreclosures on the horizon for the foreseeable future. The guy has to put some positive spin on things. That poor dope inherited a mess.
Location: Sitting on a bar stool. Guinness in hand.
4,428 posts, read 6,511,190 times
Reputation: 1721
why spin
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild Style
What do you want the guy to say? Yes, we are printing money like there is no tomorrow. Yes we are diminishing your purchasing power. Yes there are TONS of foreclosures on the horizon for the foreseeable future. The guy has to put some positive spin on things. That poor dope inherited a mess.
Why bother spinning anything. It's not like he's going to get fired. Comments like this make me think back to David Leaher was in charge of the NAR and we heading into a the downturn in housing. "Now is a great time to buy! Now is a great time to buy!" He just kept repeating it. Trying to spin the housing market out of it correction. Heck I remember in October when Hank Paulson said that the housing correction is contained. Yeah. Right.
Look Bernanke has the chance to do something that very few in Washington can actually do. That is level with the people and tell them what they already know. That we are in trouble and we as nation have to work together do dig ourselves out of the hole. Look being positive is fine. But B.S.ing us just won't fly man.
Look, Bernanke has the chance to do something that very few in Washington can actually do. That is level with the people and tell them what they already know. That we are in trouble and we as nation have to work together do dig ourselves out of the hole. Look, being positive is fine. But B.S.ing us just won't fly, man.
Mr Bernanke seems to be a weak-character "yes-man". In any case, before Congress he usually defends his actions by citing the Fed's dual mandate to maintain full employment and price stability, usually emphasizing the former at the expense of the latter.
True, the Fed has a lot of, somewhat occult, power, but the legal reality is that Congress, the people's and states' representatives, is ultimately responsible, even for monetary policy and the Fed's mandate.
So the few in Washington are the members of Congress, the people's and states' representatives, and their behavior and that of the people of the nation mutually reflect each other.
People need to be aware that this is a "brave" new world and need to adjust their behavior and expectations accordingly, then elect members of Congress who reflect that adjustment.
Okay, easier said than done, sorry.
But the reality is that people need to say to their representatives, "we are aware that we need to take a cut in the standard of living for the sake of long-term peace and prosperity, let's do it in an orderly fashion".
Instead, people expect something for nothing and so we have speculation and inflation, not real growth based on the fundamentals:
production - consumption = income for saving and investment.
For too long we have not been in equilibrium with that equation and we are suffering the consequences now.
the guy is clueless, i think smarter people saw the recession coming and put him in that position for the country point fingers at
That's where I disagree. I think Bernanke saw the recession coming, but chose to do nothing to make him look unpopular (aka raise interest rates early on)
Also, he's a student of the GD and thinks that the printing press offsets monetary contraction. Burnt on the outside and frozen on the inside balances out, eh?
Why bother spinning anything. It's not like he's going to get fired. Comments like this make me think back to David Leaher was in charge of the NAR and we heading into a the downturn in housing. "Now is a great time to buy! Now is a great time to buy!" He just kept repeating it. Trying to spin the housing market out of it correction. Heck I remember in October when Hank Paulson said that the housing correction is contained. Yeah. Right.
Look Bernanke has the chance to do something that very few in Washington can actually do. That is level with the people and tell them what they already know. That we are in trouble and we as nation have to work together do dig ourselves out of the hole. Look being positive is fine. But B.S.ing us just won't fly man.
I agree with you, that would be the more responsible way to handle it. Thing is though, the average American doesn't understand economics and finance. Just look on these boards, you still have people going on about some "oil bubble". If he leveled with them they would find away to not blame themselves, not take responsibility and maybe do something stupid.
I just read there is a lawyer in Miami suing OPEC because of gas prices lol. What a absolute genius he is right? Well, I am reading the comments on the article and the lemmings are all clapping and saying how brave he is and how someone needed to do this. I was reminded of the movie idiocracy
I agree with you, that would be the more responsible way to handle it. Thing is though, the average American doesn't understand economics and finance. Just look on these boards, you still have people going on about some "oil bubble". If he leveled with them they would find away to not blame themselves, not take responsibility and maybe do something stupid.
I just read there is a lawyer in Miami suing OPEC because of gas prices lol. What a absolute genius he is right? Well, I am reading the comments on the article and the lemmings are all clapping and saying how brave he is and how someone needed to do this. I was reminded of the movie idiocracy
What else would you expect from a Miami lawyer? One of them sued my parents for hurricane damage from a tree! Considering how bad the court system is in Miami he would probably win. The trick would be collecting from OPEC, I bet they are laughing as I write this! Perhaps we can convert lawyers into oil, or at the least harvest the hot air they produce for thermal energy.
I agree with you, that would be the more responsible way to handle it. Thing is though, the average American doesn't understand economics and finance. Just look on these boards, you still have people going on about some "oil bubble". If he leveled with them they would find away to not blame themselves, not take responsibility and maybe do something stupid.
Keep in mind you are dealing with a lot of "real estate" type folks on this board.
Quote:
I just read there is a lawyer in Miami suing OPEC because of gas prices lol. What a absolute genius he is right? Well, I am reading the comments on the article and the lemmings are all clapping and saying how brave he is and how someone needed to do this. I was reminded of the movie idiocracy
[/quote]
That Idiocracy link was great. Still laughing while writing this.
But as for suing OPEC. Sure, why not? Sue everybody. US Courts are truly a joke, anyway. Ever hear the Jerky Boys do the spoof phone call to the civil damage lawyers' office. Winds up with the Jerky Boys claiming the lawyers were giving them damages from the phone call.
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why spin
