Posts Tagged ‘Ben Bernanke’
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 12th, 2010 8:12 AM |
After three years of economic turmoil, why do I believe we are just now entering the second phase of a protracted economic drag here in the United States? While many economists and analysts would like to parse each and every bit of data that comes across the tape—that is what they do for a living—I believe we are better served to focus on the larger waves and currents at play across our global economic landscape. What do I see? A New World Order.
Do not think for a second that this reality does not have real long term implications for our economy and our people. I am not saying that there will not be enormous economic opportunities for individuals and businesses alike, but the skeletons in our American closet can only be hidden so long. Let’s navigate. (more…)
Tags: A New World Order, Americas economic skeletons, Angela Merkel, beggar-thy-neighbor, Ben Bernanke, Brazilian president Lula da Silva, Brazilian presidnet Lula, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Chinese inflation, Chinese markets overnight, commodities inflation, crony capitalism, devaluation of dollar, emerging markets inflation, free trade agreement with South Korea, G-20 Summit in Seoul South Korea, global economy, Hu Jinatao and Barack Obama, inflation in China, inflation in emerging markets, Is the Fed independent, lack of credibility in United States, lack of trust between America and China, Larry Doyle, new world order, Obama rebuffed in Seoul, politicization of Ben Bernanke, politicization of Federal Reserve, quantitative easing impact, results of G-20 summit, skeletons in America's closet, sound external environment, the new world order, U. S. Wields Less Clout at Summit, U.S. economic house, value of Chinese renminbi, value of Chinese yuan, who is Lael Brainerd
Posted in General | 22 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 11th, 2010 10:51 AM |
That haze hanging over Washington DC is not the residue of last week’s elections, it is the less than sanguine outlook of investors on the policies and programs being put forth by President Barack Obama and our lead central banker, Fed chair Ben Bernanke. How hazy? Well, close to two thirds of those polled recently by Bloomberg are pessimistic about Barack’s policies and how they affect the investment climate in the United States. More than three quarters of those polled believe the Fed’s newly launched round of quantitative easing will have little or no benefit on unemployment. Ouch!!
In regard to the greenback, almost seven in ten polled believe the U.S. is deliberately trying to weaken the value of our dollar relative to other currencies. Who else believes this? (more…)
Tags: Alan Greenspan on US dollar, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, bloomberg investor poll november 2010, Bloomberg poll november 11 2010, Greenspan Warns Over Weaker Dollar, QE2, quantitative easing impact on unemployment, strength of renminbi, value of dollar
Posted in General | No Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 8th, 2010 7:41 AM |
Quantitative easing is merely another tool to adjust monetary policy, correct? Perhaps. The question begs, then, after an initial round of a trillion-plus quantitative easing failed to stimulate the economy why should we expect any differently this time. Great question. Let’s navigate.
Quantitative easing involves the purchase of Treasury and mortgage securities by the Federal Reserve in an attempt to inject liquidity into the system, prop asset prices, and spur consumer demand. Or so they say. Well how is the overall level of credit in our economy trending?
The downward slope in the graph is an indication of both lessened credit availability and also lessened credit demand. The quantitative easing should directly address this reality, correct? I am not so sure about the “directly” aspect of that statement. In fact, I will go a step further and say I think the Fed is being less than forthright with the nation. If the Fed truly wanted to inject liquidity and capital into our economy and allow it to flow through to small businesses directly there are much better ways of doing it than by purchasing overvalued Treasury and mortgage securities. (more…)
Tags: Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Bernanke Attempts to Soothe Doubters, Commercial Bank Credit, conference organized by Federal Reserve bank of Atlanta and Rutgers University, creating inflation, credit availability, credit demand, credit trends in economy, E. Gerald Corrigan, Fed summit in Georgia, Federal Reserve Bank Credit, Federal Reserve monetary policy, QE2, quantitative easing, swapping Treasurys for other assets, transparency within the Federal Reserve, what assets does the Federal Reserve purchase via quantitative easing, what is the federal reserve really buying
Posted in General, quantitative easing | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 21st, 2010 6:47 AM |
All hail the mighty and powerful Federal Reserve!!
Is that right?
Are we all supposed to bow down and prostrate ourselves at the throne of Ben Bernanke and assume he is ‘all knowing’? The fact is the Federal Reserve has assumed a mantle of being ‘all powerful’ but who in our country is willing to challenge the Federal Reserve? Are we supposed to merely turn over the economic fortunes of our nation and our children’s future to one individual and one institution without aggressively calling them on the carpet? What happened to the calls for increased Fed transparency? What happened to the pressure on the Fed to justify their actions? The silence is deafening.
Those with a degree of sense on cents understand and appreciate the following: (more…)
Tags: Ben Bernanke, crony capitalism, Fed's Summary of Economic Projections, federal open market committee, Federal Reserve, FOMC, Larry Doyle, QE2, quantitative easing by Federal reserve, Sense on Cents
Posted in General | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 22nd, 2010 5:12 AM |
Almost three full years from the official start of The Great Recession and fifteen months from its end, and our economy continues to limp along and languish amidst the weight of ongoing — even unrecognized — debts. Can we take a double dose of Nyquil, chase it with some Irish Mist, and hope we wake up feeling better in the morning? If it were only that easy.
The simple fact is our economy is battling a serious bout of seemingly terminal ‘walking pneumonia.’ How might we diagnose that malady? All we need to do is read yesterday’s Release from the Federal Reserve:
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August indicates that the pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months. (more…)
Tags: Ben Bernanke, economic data, Economy, federal open market committee, Federal Reserve, federal reserve governors, Federal Reserve policy, federal reserve release, Federal Reserve statement, FOMC, hyperinflation vs stagflation, inflation vs disinflation vs deflation, irish mist, nyquil, Release from Federal Reserve september 21 2010, the fed, the great recession, Thomas Hoenig
Posted in General | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 29th, 2010 11:12 AM |
Hail Mary passes are typically thrown late in a game in an attempt to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. Ben Bernanke’s statement at the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference this past week is an indication that he is getting ready to throw his “Hail Mary.” The problem that I see, though, is that our ‘game’ is only somewhere in the second quarter.
Have you ever witnessed a football game where one team literally has to scrap its game plan because it finds itself in such a huge hole in the first quarter? That, my friends, is analogous to the state of the U.S. economy going into 2008. While we could debate whether the calls made by our coaching staff in Washington have helped or hurt our recovery, the fact is Ben and his fellow coaches have thrown everything and the kitchen sink at the economy and the results are anything but robust.
For a review of the game to date and the uncertain prognosis going forward, The New York Times’ Peter Goodman provides a wealth of ‘sense on cents’ in his fabulous and comprehensive commentary, (more…)
Tags: Alan Blinder, Ben Bernanke, Ben Bernanke statement at Jackson Hole, Ben Bernanke's game plan, Ben Bernanke's Hail Mary, Bernanke's next move, Bernanke's next step, Bruce Bartlett, chances of double dip, deflation vs inflation, economic conditions, Economy, Euro Pacific Capital, Fed conference Jackson Hole, Fed policy, Federal reserve Jackson Hole Wyoming, financial crisis, Germany vs United States, Great Depression, Great Recession, housing, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Joseph Stiglitz, Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University, lack of investor confidence, Lost Decade, Peter Schiff, Poilicy Options Dwindle as Economic Fears Grow, The New York Times Peter Goodman, U.S. economy, what else can Ben bernanke do, WY
Posted in Ben Bernanke, General | 6 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 23rd, 2010 7:56 AM |
Do you increasingly feel that you are not receiving the full story in terms of our overall economy? Do you feel as if the ‘political class’ in Washington is speaking a different language than the ‘working class’ in the rest of the country? Do you scratch your head as to why economic releases are often immediately panned and quickly thereafter revised? (Case in point, the initial release of 2nd quarter GDP on July 30th was quickly thereafter projected to be halved.) For all of the above reasons, more and more Americans are relying on independent economic research and analysis. Two of my favorites in this camp (aside from Sense on Cents, of course!!) are John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics and Rick Davis of Consumer Metrics Institute.
I recently highlighted Williams’ work in writing, What Is the Real Rate of Unemployment in the United States? In that commentary, I referenced Williams as he had stated:
That began a lengthy process of exploring the history and nature of economic reporting and in interviewing key people involved in the process from the early days of government reporting through the present.
For a number of years I conducted surveys among business economists as to the quality of government statistics (the vast majority thought it was pretty bad), and my results led to front page stories in the New York Times and Investors Business Daily, considerable coverage in the broadcast media and a joint meeting with representatives of all the government’s statistical agencies. Despite minor changes to the system, government reporting has deteriorated sharply in the last decade or so. (LD’s emphasis) (more…)
Tags: 2008 Great Recession, 800 pound gorilla, BEA, Ben Bernanke, Bureau of Economic Analysis, CMI, Consumer Metrics Institute, Daily Growth Index, double dip, economic revisions, Economy, Great Recession, health of U.S. economy, John Williams, Larry Doyle, leading economic indicator, personal consumption vs government stimulus, political class vs working class, real rate of unemployment, real time consumer discretionary activity, Rick Davis, Sense on Cents, Shadow Government Statistics, Tim Geithner, Washington vs America
Posted in consumer spending, General | 4 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 10th, 2010 4:24 PM |
What if you were playing a round of golf with a set number of balls and were restricted by how often you might be able to use specific clubs? Might feel somewhat overwhelmed, no? What if you faced this predicament when you realized that you were still many holes away from the clubhouse? Might feel increasingly overwhelmed, no? Why do I have this mental image of Ben Bernanke and his fellow Fed governors standing out on the farthest point of a golf course wondering just how the heck they are going to finish their round–that is, navigate the economy–and get back to the clubhouse.
Let’s quickly review the Federal Reserve’s statement released today. In the process, let’s take the pulse of the economy and the Fed’s ability to impact it. From the Federal Reserve’s website, (more…)
Tags: Ben Bernanke, Fed governors, Fed statement August 10 2010, Federal Reserve, Federal reserve release August 10 2010, Federal reserve statement august 10 2010
Posted in General | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 7th, 2010 8:25 AM |
As we continue navigating the global economic landscape, national interests are now overwhelming coordinated global interests. How so?
Unlike the coordinated message at the widely publicized 2009 G20 summit held in London, the clashing of widely divergent national views at the 2010 G20 meeting held in Busan, South Korea is hardly melodious. The implications for global markets will be enormous.
Last year, the U.S. swapped all sorts of favors for a coordinated global fiscal stimulus; this year, the U.S., represented by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, is receiving the cold shoulder. Finance ministers from around the world are happy to go their own way in pursuit of what they believe to be their national interests. Can you blame them? (more…)
Tags: 2010 g20 summit, austerity measures, Ben Bernanke, British finance minister, Christine Lagarde, early withdrawal of fiscal stimulus, EU debt crisis, G-20 meeting in Busan South Korea, G20, G20 Drops Support for Fiscal Stimulus, George Osborne, global economic recovery, global fiscal stimulus, Greece, Prisoner's Dilemma, rock and a hard place, sovereign debt crisis, Tim Geithner
Posted in G20, General | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 2nd, 2010 1:20 PM |
Has America lost the courage to aggressively address those who commit fraud? Is the American public even aware of the massive fraud perpetrated by those in our financial system which led to our current economic crisis? Are those in Washington willing to take a stand, risk their own skins, call out those engaged in fraud, even if some of the fraudsters occupy neighboring seats at nearby regulatory bodies?
Unless we find people in our government who are willing to make these calls, repeat them publicly in a long, loud fashion, and compel prosecutors to issue indictments, then I fear our union will pay a price and incur a cost that may be immeasurable.
Why so strong? Why so strident? (more…)
Tags: addressing fraud, AIG, Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, bill thomas, Brooksley Born, caveat emptor, CDS, Charles Keating, Conspiracy of Fools, control frauds, Dick Cheney, economic theory, efficient market hypothesis r, Enron scandal, Fannie Mae, FCIC, Financial crisis inquiry commission, financial frauds, fraud in our economy, frauds, Freddie Mac, George Akerlof, George W. Bush, Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, heather murren, how to address fraud, IBG YBG, indict fraudsters, investigating fraud, James Stewart's Den of Thieves, Joe Biden, John K. Galbraith, John Paulson, Kurt Eichenwald, Levy Economics Institute, liar loans, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in Government Business Relations, market discipline, Mary Schapiro, Nelson's Eye, neutron loans, ninja loans, Paul Romer, Peter Fisher, phil angelides, rational expectations, Representative Doggett, Robert Johnson, Savings and loan fraud, SEC, speculation, systemic fraud, Thomas Ferguson, Tim Geithner, University of Texas, Wall Street, Washington, William K. Black
Posted in General | 4 Comments »
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