Bernanke's latest grilling

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Today, Ben was subjected to quite the grilling.


<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119453346274786554.html">


Here is Senator Schumer's opening statement</a>.


<em>


"Chairman Bernanke, when you came before this Committee last March, one of the major topics we discussed was the potential fallout from the subprime lending crisis. It's something this committee has been very concerned with for quite some time. And I think you'd be the first to admit that, contrary to what you said at the time, the subprime mess has not been "contained", but instead has proved to be contagion that has spread in dangerous ways throughout not just the housing market , but our economy, and the global financial system.</em>

<p class="times"><em>The seizing up of the credit markets this summer was the first, and clearest indication of the unanticipated, and potentially disastrous, risks that out-of-control subprime lending poses to the financial markets. There is now a lack of confidence in creditworthiness throughout the market, and at the core of is a lack of confidence in the subprime mortgage market. Until we correct that, we will not solve our broader problems.</em></p>

<p class="times"><em>I do want to applaud you and the Federal Reserve Board for your aggressive, and I believe appropriate, response to this summer's liquidity crisis. It is vital that we maintain the health of our financial markets, and to ensure that they function smoothly, and you deserve credit for your prompt actions"</em></p>

<p><a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20071108a.htm">Here is the full text of Ben's speech</a>.</p>

<p class="times"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/353z3p">


Here is MW's take</a>.</p>
 
<p>Dooooooommmmmmed.....</p>

<p>I'm investing in metal now... I think we need to get the public to tighten our belts, stop spending rediculous amounts of money into places across the globe and finally get to work! Do what made this country great.</p>

<p>-bix</p>
 
<p>Sorry, we're debt junkies. Debt is as bad as heroin. We aren't stopping into we can't get another fix. </p>

<p>Unlike the Ant and the Grasshopper, it will not matter which you are, for we've given the Grasshoppers the stores we've made on their promise to return it with more, and in the end, we both will starve.</p>

<p> </p>
 
The good news, as I see it, from the question and answer period was that the politicians are actually asking some good questions that sound as if they had been reading the IHB. Maybe the message is getting to them.



Ron Paul had a hard hitting tirade about the only thing the FED does is lower interest rates and steals from the savers.



Also the politicos usually act when their ox gets gored and Loretta Sanchez complained that with her 800 FICO score, no debt, and high income she was being charged 100 BP above the interest rates being quoted in the meeting as she looked for a loan. She also mentioned that her district includes Anaheim and Santa Ana where one out of three homes are in foreclosure.



Hello and welcome to the real world sweetheart!!



It will be interesting to see how the MSM spins the press conference since I did watch the entire proceeding. Thanks for the link Graphrix as it is worth getting the info unfiltered by talking heads on CNN/CNBC.



Enjoy!!
 
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Its too bad Ron Paul has ZERO skills at asking questions of the Chairman. He just rants. I like the guy and he is spot on. But he just is looked at by everyone in the room as a whack job. He has no interaction skills whatsoever. He is just having a wonderful conversation alone in this hearing. Its so sad. He reminds me of some of the smartest people I went to school with. Brilliant. But get them out of the classroom and they just imploded in social skils. Look at Ben when Ron gets done. He just rolls his eyes and smiles.
 
RP has been saying the same thing to Bernanke and those before him and nothing gets done.



The dollar is getting devalued and the lower class is getting squeezed. That M3 figure he's talking about is critical to the value of the dollar, and the Federal Reserve stopped providing that statistic to hide the inflation that is becoming runaway. Statistics from the government (jobs, productivity, GDP) are manipulated to provide artificial cushions to prop up markets.



At this point, I think its moot trying to be social.
 
It was disappointing to see Bernanke smirk and roll his eyes each time someone challenged the status quo--not just during Ron Paul's tirade. When Bernanke was announced to chair the Fed, I didn't know much about the guy and I was hoping he'd be more of a stand up type guy. I guess "hope" is the key word there.
 
<a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/96266296-92f7-11dc-ad39-0000779fd2ac.html">Fed offers greater insight on inflation</a>

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday unveiled far-reaching plans to increase its transparency, adopting many of the features of an inflation targeting regime without actually stating a formal inflation target.

The announcement came as the Bank of England indicated that two interest rate cuts would be needed to stem an economic slowdown in the UK.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank would start publishing more frequent, more detailed and longer-range economic forecasts, including for the first time forecasts for “headline” inflation including food and energy.

The forecasts, which will be published quarterly and span a three year period, will continue to be made by Fed policymakers individually. However, the “central tendency” of the inflation forecasts for the third year will constitute a de facto medium term inflation target.

Mr Bernanke said the forecasts would “provide a more timely insight into the committee’s outlook,” help households and businesses “better understand and anticipate how our policy decisions respond to incoming information” and “enhance our accountability.”
 
The number used as the PCE deflator, (inflation indicator), for the latest GDP calculation was 0.8% per year. Now, seriously, are you going to give credence to anything the Fed says? The only reason, and when I say only, I mean only, the Fed tells the public anything is to obfuscate the truth and hide it's true intentions.
 
Check out NSR's musings. I can not even spell half the words he/she uses, let alone use them correctly in a sentence.
 
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