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More Questions for Ben Bernanke

On April 27, 2011, in Commodities, Currencies, Economy, Stocks, by Tim

Those invited to the first-of-its-kind press conference following the conclusion of today’s FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting should not be at a loss for ideas about what to ask, as should be clear from the collection of links below.

> What Would You Ask Bernanke? – WSJ
> Questions for Bernanke – North, Lew Rockwell
> 10 Questions for Chairman Bernanke – Global Macro Monitor
> Five Questions for Bernanke – Future of Capitalism
> 20 Questions For Ben Bernanke – Zero Hedge
> 5 tough questions for Ben Bernanke – MarketWatch
> Six Questions for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke – Mother Jones
> One Question for Bernanke, Three Possible Answers – CNBC
> Sixteen Questions for Dr. Bernanke’s Press Conference – Aleph Blog
> Suggested Questions for Bernanke Run Gamut But Inflation Top Topic – iMarketNews
> Ahead of the Bernanke press conference, questions and worries – Seattle Times
> Questions for Bernanke Should Focus on Fed Efforts During Financial Crisis – FDL
> “Why Was the Bank of Libya Bailed Out?” and Other Questions – Washington’s Blog
> #FedSpeaks: Crowdsourcing Questions to Bernanke – Dylan Ratigan
> Your questions for Fed Chairman Bernanke – MarketWatch
> Some Questions for Bernanke’s Critics – Seeking Alpha
> Economists, Readers Offer Questions for Bernanke – WSJ
> Questions, and answers, for Bernanke – MarketWatch
> Do You Have a Question for Mr. Bernanke? – NY Times
> Questions For Ben – Market Ticker

It’s a pretty safe bet that none of the questions on the list provided by Zero Hedge will be asked, though, you’d think that someone should step up and asking something like this:

1. The rescue packages in 2008-2009 were all aimed at restoring CONFIDENCE to the financial system. Yet from 2001 to 2011 the DXY is down 41.5% and gold is up 473%. Does this not equate to a loss of confidence in the US monetary system? If not how would you explain this phenomena?

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Ron Paul Has a Question for Ben Bernanke

On April 27, 2011, in Currencies, Economy, by Tim

Rep Ron Paul (R-TX), who appears to gearing up for another presidential bid, was on Fox News to talk about raising the debt ceiling and today’s big Federal Reserve press conference.

Here’s his question for the Fed Chairman:

I would ask him where he gets the authority to print money out of thin air because it’s not in the constitution and that’s the basic problem. The Fed creates the problem because it serves the Congress. They spend too much money on militarism and welfarism, so, we borrow and we tax, but then the Fed prints the money. So, they’ll never get the budget under control as long as you have the Fed monetizing debt and he has to someday understand that – which he won’t – so, someday we’ll have to change the system.

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Bernanke Preps for His First Press Conference

On April 21, 2011, in Commodities, Economy, by Tim

In this front page Wall Street Journal story today, Jon Hilsenrath provides the historical backdrop for and provides a preview of next week’s important Federal Open Market Committee Meeting and the first-of-its-kind press conference that will follow.

Next Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will do something no Fed chief has done before: Stand before a room full of journalists after officials conclude a policy meeting and answer questions about the central bank’s decisions.
…
Inflation is climbing, in large part due to surging food and energy prices. Unemployment remains high and economic growth disappointed in the first quarter. Mr. Bernanke seems intent on leaving the central bank’s ultralow-interest-rate policy in place for now, but he faces vocal opposition in his ranks.In stepping out now, the chairman has a chance to assert his voice over the Fed’s cacophonous internal debates—before any of his colleagues can get to a microphone—and reassure the public that he’ll keep inflation under control.
…
Despite internal opposition, Mr. Bernanke and his top lieutenants—Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen and New York Fed President William Dudley—have signaled they believe it is too soon to start raising rates. Though inflation is rising, they believe consumer-price increases will prove transient, as occurred in a 2008 run-up in food and energy prices. The press conference will give Mr. Bernanke a chance to explain this view to a sometimes skeptical public.

Based on those poll numbers in the graphic, in the minds of many Americans and in the words of Ricky Ricardo, Bernanke has a lot of ’splainin to do, particularly if gas prices reach an average of $4 next week by the time he bellies up to the microphone. According to the report (which is in the public section of the WSJ website and well worth reading in its entirety), he’s been rehearsing quite a bit, maybe preparing for some rogue journalist to bring up the latest XtraNormal video on inflation or quantitative easing. Hopefully, he won’t use the iPad2 as an example of how prices really aren’t rising that much.

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Texas Gold and Napolean Dynamite

On April 21, 2011, in Economy, by Tim

In looking for this CNBC video about the growing gold holdings of the University of Texas endowment fund,  the clip below featuring former Fed Governor Fred “Napoleon Dynamite” Mishkin was stumbled upon, offering more evidence that hubris dies hard.

Recall that Mishkin was excoriated in the Academy Award winning documentary “Inside Job” (see this YouTube clip for one of his shining moments) and, like most of the world’s other non-economists, it’s now impossible for me to not to see him in that light (although his standing wasn’t all that great prior to “Inside Job”). Presumably, when talking to Steve Liesman above, a strong sense of hubris allows him to ignore those little voices in his head that are screaming, “Everyone thinks I’m a fraud”.

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Should Unrelenting Justice Be Disturbing?

On April 19, 2011, in Economy, Our Culture, by Tim

I still haven’t gotten around to watching that Meet the Press panel discussion the other day featuring former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan and, now, that may never happen after seeing a couple of snippets of him on some of the other NBC news shows where, for some unknown reason (maybe having something to do with his wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell) he continues to be called back as an expert on the economy despite the widely held view in other circles that his appearances are akin to an arsonist analyzing the fire.

The failure to submit to more of the Maestro’s present day musings notwithstanding, and, given the recent premier of the movie “Atlas Shrugged”, it was with some amusement that this item was spotted over at Eddy’s Crossing Wall Street blog in which a younger Alan Greenspan responded to critics of Ayn Rand’s book when it was published 54 years ago.

The movie Atlas Shrugged is opening this weekend. The book came out in 1957 and it was absolutely panned by critics.

Some of the readers didn’t like the criticism. Here’s one such response:

To the Editor (November 3, 1957):

Atlas Shrugged is a celebration of life and happiness. Justice is unrelenting. Creative individuals and undeviating purpose and rationality achieve joy and fulfillment. Parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish as they should. Mr. Hicks suspiciously wonders “about a person who sustains such a mood through the writing of 1,168 pages and some fourteen years of work.” This reader wonders about a person who finds unrelenting justice personally disturbing.

Alan Greenspan, NY

Yes, this is real.

And yes, I think the world has had enough of the former Fed Chairman for the week, though I’ve been reading good things about the Atlas Shrugged movie, primarily from those who are big fans of the book.

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Jim Grant Doesn’t Like What He Sees

On April 18, 2011, in Commodities, Currencies, Our Culture, by Tim

James Grant of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer talks to Consuelo Mack in a video that seems to be popping up all over the place this morning. It should come as no surprise that Grant doesn’t think too much of the direction the financial system is headed and lays much of the blame at the feet of the Federal Reserve who he says is “unconscionably complacent” about the consequences of what it’s doing with its “grotesque” balance sheet.

Here’s a real shocker:

Grant: The shiniest skyscrapers in our most prosperous cultural cities are priced as they were at the peak of the real estate luncay of 2006 and 2007 all over again.

Mack: Which was news to me, but that’s an astonishing fact.

Indeed. Astounding.

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