Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I heard a very long interview with David Stockman who was the budget director under Ronald Reagan - it was interesting and will likely upset both parties. I will summarize the points he argued below.
-QE has created a bubble.
-QE was carried on too long in an effort to help Obama, making it worse.
-QE has cause inequality to skyrocket. The Fed behaves as if their job is to prime the stock market.
-Obama owned QE through his Fed picks.
-The Fed is in a precarious position with low interest rates and an economy that could dive into recession. They can't do QT.
-From 1913 to 1987 the Fed only accumulated 200 Billion on its balance sheet. It had less than a trillion when Obama gave the okay to Bernanke and peaked at $4.6 trillion in 2014 and is only barely down since then.
-Trump correctly identified the bubble when he was a candidate, but then his ego made him take credit for an even bigger bubble.
-Trump should have kept pointing out that there was a bubble, but that would be too honest for him.
-Trump has spent too much political capital on his useless sacred wall and the drug cartels will just start flying drones carrying drugs the moment the wall is built.
-Trump wants more QE, which will create more trouble.
-Trump correctly tried to pull back on empire spending like withdrawing from Syria, but then back tracked when met with resistance.
-Empire spending is about $1 trillion a year when you include things like Voice of America, foreign aid, military technology research, and veteran's benefits.
-Welfare spending is about $3 trillion a year.
-Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are driving the federal government expenses upwards and need to be dealt with, but neither party has the stomach for that.
-Trump's tax cuts would have been okay had he addressed spending, but he didn't.
-Interest on the national debt could potentially hit a trillion a year in the next decade if interest rates are ever forced to more normal levels.
-All of this mess is a drain on growth.
-Companies have been buying back stock the past decade simply to improve their P/E ratio, sometimes taking out debt to do so, which isn't a good long-term strategy.
-The whole world economy is slowing down, US likely can't escape it.
-MAGA is more fantasy, the swamp won't be drained.
I think he is right about the new task of the fed will be to prime the stock market when it tanks. If there is a crash I am sure the fed would revert back to 0% interest and if bad enough start QE again. Of course company stock buy backs would be a natural, who would not borrow money at 0% interest and invest in a primed rising stock market?
From here forward the retirement and investment accounts of Americans will depend on action/in action of the federal reserve.
Stockman points out Trump says one thing does another like Syria, interest rates, etc and pretty much acted {R} with his big accomplishment of tax cuts with out spending cuts. You know you do not want to put the spot light on the fake conservatives and have them make a tough vote.
I heard a very long interview with David Stockman who was the budget director under Ronald Reagan - it was interesting and will likely upset both parties. I will summarize the points he argued below.
-QE has created a bubble.
-QE was carried on too long in an effort to help Obama, making it worse.
-QE has cause inequality to skyrocket. The Fed behaves as if their job is to prime the stock market.
-Obama owned QE through his Fed picks.
-The Fed is in a precarious position with low interest rates and an economy that could dive into recession. They can't do QT.
-From 1913 to 1987 the Fed only accumulated 200 Billion on its balance sheet. It had less than a trillion when Obama gave the okay to Bernanke and peaked at $4.6 trillion in 2014 and is only barely down since then.
-Trump correctly identified the bubble when he was a candidate, but then his ego made him take credit for an even bigger bubble.
-Trump should have kept pointing out that there was a bubble, but that would be too honest for him.
-Trump has spent too much political capital on his useless sacred wall and the drug cartels will just start flying drones carrying drugs the moment the wall is built.
-Trump wants more QE, which will create more trouble.
-Trump correctly tried to pull back on empire spending like withdrawing from Syria, but then back tracked when met with resistance.
-Empire spending is about $1 trillion a year when you include things like Voice of America, foreign aid, military technology research, and veteran's benefits.
-Welfare spending is about $3 trillion a year.
-Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are driving the federal government expenses upwards and need to be dealt with, but neither party has the stomach for that.
-Trump's tax cuts would have been okay had he addressed spending, but he didn't.
-Interest on the national debt could potentially hit a trillion a year in the next decade if interest rates are ever forced to more normal levels.
-All of this mess is a drain on growth.
-Companies have been buying back stock the past decade simply to improve their P/E ratio, sometimes taking out debt to do so, which isn't a good long-term strategy.
-The whole world economy is slowing down, US likely can't escape it.
-MAGA is more fantasy, the swamp won't be drained.
I think he makes a few good points.
The 10 commandments according to Washington DC:
Commandment 1: Spending never goes down.
Commandment 2 through 10: See commandment 1
He makes a lot of good points except I do believe it's fair to argue that this all started with Reagan.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
