Bernanke Is Clueless

Discussion in 'Economics' started by AAAintheBeltway, Aug 15, 2007.

  1. Add Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to the list of incompetent Bush appointees. He can join such stalwarts as the hapless "Brownie", would be Supreme Court Justice Harriet Miers, AG Anthony Gonzales, US Attorney Johnnie Sutton, Homeland Security honcho Michael Chertoff and CIA chief George Tenant.

    Bernanke's chief failing seems to be that he is an academic, insulated and naive about the real world. He demonstrated this early on by his loose lips at a cocktail party when he apparently lost his bearings while in conversation with Maria Bartoroma, but Wall Street and the financial media cut him some slack. In retrospect, she would have done us all a giant favor if she had had the effect on his career she did on that Citibank guy.

    Bernanke seems now to be auditioning for a new nickname. I can understand wanting to ditch the "helicopter" appellation, but do we really want a central bank chief whose new nick is "Bankruptcy?"
     
  2. ptunic

    ptunic

    Much as I disagree with the Fed for keeping inflation a bit too high, I think the root causes of most economic problems in the US stem from poor design of fiscal and domestic policies.

    These include: government budget deficits, inefficient taxation, inefficient social spending (eg health care system), and incentives tilted towards encouraging private consumption instead of private savings/investment.
     
  3. Actually, the very best nicknames precede the person's first name rather than come between the first name and last name. Diamond Jim Brady, Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickock. All memorable nicknames. Now we can add Bankruptcy Ben Bernanke to the list. I'll be the first to say it is far catchier than something like "The Maestro", although those in the mortgage industry may disagree.
     
  4. I wonder if TMA's COO was asking if Greenspan could be put back in when he called the President, the Fed and the Treasury Dept. yesterday.
     
  5. I think the OP and the rest of ET who think the Fed chair is the omnipotent decision maker are clueless.

    It's not a dictatorship, there is a committee and a Board of Governors. Then there are the actual shareholders of the Federal Reserve & its member banks.
     
  6. No doubt there are fossils on the FOMC who long for 1929, but most Chairmen have been able to force their wills on the Committee. If Bernanake can't, then maybe he should turn the job over to someone who can.
     
  7. kashirin

    kashirin

    desperate long, you're so pathetic
     
  8. This is a figment of your imagination, they actually sit down and vote. The real interests at work obviously make their viewpoints & demands known through the members of committee.

    There are so many interests at work when it comes to the US & global financial system that it is extremely naive to consider the Fed chairman to be the almighty powerful ruler. He has about as much power as a CEO of company when put under pressure by the company's major shareholders. Get my drift?
     
  9. Bernacke is doing exactly what he should be doing...injecting liquidity in the system through repos.

    If he starts on a lowering path now then the USD yacks and we just end up importing more inflation. Not to mention if he starts to down it will end up creating a huge "Moral Hazard."

    Besides, the Bond market as usual is doing the Feds job for it...the 10yr yield has come in about 60bps in just the last 7 weeks.
     

  10. The fed overnight rate was 4.5% yesterday... regardless of his party line being 5.25% as a target, he is speaking with his $$ floods.

    http://newyorkfed.org/markets/omo/dmm/fedfundsdata.cfm
     
    #10     Aug 15, 2007