Seeking Alpha
About this author:

On Wednesday, Ben (the helicopter) Bernanke, current chief of the Federal Reserve (which is about as federal as Federal Express, and has no reserves), announced that the Fed would start buying US treasury bonds on the open market.

Also, that they would be buying mortgages and mortgage backed securities for a total of $1.25 trillion over the next six months.

I was watching CNBC at the time, and 10 year Treasury yields fell from yielding 2.95% to 2.51% in a heartbeat. Literally, one second they were trading at 2.95% yield and the next second they were trading at 2.51% yield. I have never seen anything like this happen before.

This may seem good for current Treasury bond holders, but certainly not for foreign bond holders. The US dollar has lost 5% in the last two days of international trading, a huge slap in the face to China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Now, many of the clueless talking heads in the news media are reporting that mortgage rates have fallen/will fall to record lows.

Well, bond yields have already climbed back to 2.65% currently, and mortgage rates are priced not only by the bond market, but more importantly by the Fannie Mae 60 day delivery rate, which is a gauge of how much they can sell these mortgages for once they make them. There is a lag time before mortgage rates adjust, and it is not instantaneous as with the bond market.

So far we have seen a slight improvement in mortgage rates, about back to where they were a month ago, but not nearly back to the record lows we saw in late December/early January.

Mortgage companies will wait and see where the bond yields stabilize before giving us the benefit of any drop in yields.

In the long run, this move was extremely harmful to the economy, and will inevitably create inflation and higher interest rates.

This recent move is an act of desperation by the Federal Reserve, and has only ever been done in third world countries before the US did it this week, and the UK did it last week.

It is called "quantitative easing", a new euphemism for the reckless printing of money, which you will be hearing more and more if you follow the news media.

The reason they did it was because their normal arsenal of economic weapons is out of ammo. The Fed funds rate has already been set to zero, and cannot be lowered any further. Japan tried this in 1991, and their economy has never recovered.

If the Fed tightens up reserve requirements on banks, it would insure many new bank failures, which is actually something that the Federal Reserve wants to happen, that is, the failure of small banks, not the large banks which are actually owners of the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve is a private corporation with a tax free status, started by bankers and owned by banks, many of them foreign banks. The actual owners are a well kept secret. The Federal Reserve was established in 1913 by an unconstitutional act of congress, which granted them the power to create and regulate the US currency, which had been reserved for the congress in the US constitution. All US treasury reserves of gold bullion were turned over the Federal Reserve at this time.

The Fed manipulation of the US money supply caused both the great depression and the current economic crisis.

In a 2002 speech commemorating Milton Friedman's birthday, Bernanke delivered a keynote address at the University of Chicago, where he said:

Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again.

Well, they are doing it again, and representative Ron Paul of Texas has recently introduced a bill in congress to abolish the Federal Reserve. Did any of you hear about this in the news media? I wonder why not?

There are nationwide rallies scheduled for May 25th to demand that the Federal Reserve be abolished.

On Friday, the "official" unemployment rate in California was announced to be 10.5% Using the previous criteria to calculate unemployment from time of the Clinton administration, this would be 20%, and using the criteria from Reagan's first term as president, would be even higher.

During the Reagan administration, those currently serving in the US military were transferred from a third category, and began to be counted as "employed". Take away over a million people actively serving the US in uniform, and the unemployment figures start to get more realistic.

Now is still an excellent time to purchase or refinance, and since there is about a one month processing and underwriting time to get a loan approved, it would be wise to start the process now if you can benefit from the current low rates.

The San Francisco bay area is one of the three worst real estate markets in the country, having fallen 33% so far, compared to the rest of the country which is down an average of 25%.

When it finally does begin to recover, it should rebound more quickly and sharply than the rest of the country.

Disclosure: no positions

Print this article with comments

This article has 73 comments:

  •  
    This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing wrong.
    It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.

    Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 22 02:42 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    The Federal Reserve Bank is unconstitutional. So is the income tax.

    Everybody stop paying taxes, head for your bunkers and look out for black helicopters! Break out the tin foil hats everybody!
    Mar 22 02:55 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Yeah, and who says Bernanke is an expert?

    When he has this mess sorted, then he will be an expert.

    But don't forget the very big IF HE GETS IT SORTED.

    Personally, I think he is clueless, but the what do I know. But at least I was amongst those predicting this meltdown which is more than can be said for Ben.


    On Mar 22 02:42 PM Karl Glazier wrote:

    > This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who
    > have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing
    > wrong.
    > It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.
    >
    >
    > Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    > With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead
    > to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    > And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited
    > amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    > Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to
    > regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    > Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 22 03:09 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Getting rid of the Fed and returning to the gold standard would be a good start. The US really needs to re-discover capitalism and very limited government. If you doubt this, read Ayn Rand and Ludwig Von Mises. Don't say I didn't warn you.

    Who is John Galt?
    Mar 22 03:39 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    >>Who is John Galt?<<

    Uh, a character in a really schlocky novel?

    (I did, however, really like "The Fountainhead".)
    Mar 22 03:43 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    You say the Fed buying long bonds "has only ever been done in third world countries before the US did it this week, and the UK did it last week."

    Of course the U.S. did it in the 1940s and you yourself say one paragraph later :
    "Japan tried this in 1991, and their economy has never recovered."

    Why should we listen to anything else you say when you are ignorant of history and self-contradictory?


    Mar 22 03:46 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    unregulated markets leads to boom and bust is the most dishonest statement I have heard today. Yes I hear a lot of dishonest stuff daily.
    Who in their right mind could believe the bold face lie that we have unregulated markets. Because the left puts out nonsense we are suppose to believe it. we are the most regulated markets in the world.
    If we can't enforce the regulations we now have cut them in half and keep doing it until the government can prove that they can handle the simplistic moronic level that meets their competence.
    Mar 22 03:58 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    "Put not your trust in Princes."
    Mar 22 04:04 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    At last! A pundit on Seeking Alpha that is 100% correct re the cause of the crisis, and who has the courage to give Ron Paul the credit he deserves. As for the totally ignorant comments of Karl Marx Glazier, bleeeaaaahhhhh! When the actions of the Fed have totally trashed the US dollar, when the US loses its AAA credit rating, and when the unemployment rate in the US reaches depression-level heights, will you have the honesty to admit you were wrong? I seriously doubt it; anyone who thinks free markets and libertarianism are what caused this disaster is obviously a hopeless idealogue who will go to his grave denying the truth.
    Mar 22 04:06 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    To Karl Glazier:
    If Bernanke actually knew what he was doing he would NOT be putting "the most advanced theories" to work- he would be doing what is KNOWN to work- NOT "theories".

    And, just answer this question: How can the Fed (or anyone) "create unlimited amounts of money" as you state.
    What is the value of such "money"? It's all just worthless cloth/paper, supported by belief that it's actually worth anything.

    As soon as enough people admit it's actually worthless, the entire house of cards that is known as "finance" will fall. As it should.
    Mar 22 04:10 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Oh, one more thing, Karl: Ron Paul was a relentless critic of Greenspan, as well as Bernanke, and Greenspan taught Bernanke everything he thinks he knows about how to destroy markets. Bernanke and Greenspan are both advocates of maximum INTERFERENCE in free markets, THAT'S WHY THEY BECAME FED CHAIRMEN!

    Geesh...
    Mar 22 04:12 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    'create unlimted amounts of money"

    Didn't your mama tell you that money doesn't grow on trees? Who do you think will buy, or accept for payment, all that freshly printed money? I'll just stick with toilet paper thanks.


    On Mar 22 02:42 PM Karl Glazier wrote:

    > This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who
    > have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing
    > wrong.
    > It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.
    >
    >
    > Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    > With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead
    > to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    > And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited
    > amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    > Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to
    > regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    > Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 22 04:15 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    I wouldn't get too excited about all the "most advanced theories" of economics being applied here. Remember an Nobel Prize was awarded for the development of the Black-Shoals algorithm for pricing derivatives. Yet it was precisely the use of this algorithm by Wall Street traders that led to the financial crisis.

    If you think that the Fed can simply create money with impunity, just think about what the response to foreign investors in US treasuries and other US debt instruments will be when they realize that the Fed is zeroing out their return, except with increasingly worthless dollars. Just think about what its going to cost you to fill your tank with imported oil or buy Chinese imports at Walmart. At that point all that the Fed will be able to do is force Americans to buy wheelbarrows so that they can carry their money to the super market. Sure there will be plenty of dollars in circulation, the problem is that they won't be worth anything.

    If you think we have a credit crisis now, just think what its going to be like when we have the 10,000% interest rates like they do in Zimbawae.


    On Mar 22 02:42 PM Karl Glazier wrote:

    > This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who
    > have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing
    > wrong.
    > It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.
    >
    >
    > Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    > With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead
    > to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    > And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited
    > amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    > Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to
    > regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    > Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 22 04:17 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    If the "professional" economists had any clue what they were doing, then why are we in this mess? I agree this particular piece is lacking in many ways. But Karl, spare us your elitist B.S.

    And we all know how "things work"...apparently not very well.



    Mar 22 04:27 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    If you seriously believe that abolishing the Fed and/or returning to the gold standard is a _realistic_ solution, good luck with your investments. I'm not an economic theorist, but as an investment thesis goes, this is strictly lunatic-fringe.

    It's this lunatic fringe that is promulgating the idea that the New Deal prolonged the Depression in the 1930's. For a better-substantiated history, see tinyurl.com/cy8td7

    Will Bernanke&Co. have the skill to successfully control the deflation/inflation balance? No one can predict this. The sad underlying state of our economy, 8 years of huge deficits, and habitual reliance (since the 1980's) on financial trickery rather than production to make us feel prosperous has a cost that cannot be comfortably evaded any longer. To claim any simple solution, or certainty of how the markets will fare in these class-IV rapids is folly. Better to be prepared for a variety of possible outcomes.

    You would like to down the whole system in order to promote an ideological rather than a pragmatic goal. That's not capitalism; that's Leninism.
    Mar 22 04:48 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Right and we can go on shrinking our government to the point that the Chinese and Saudi bondholders decide to liquidate our assets as well as our debts, because we have become geopolitically insignificant. Don't know if you have noticed, but its getting increasingly difficult to pay for our bloated budgets without their continued investment. This has REAL consequences with respect to being able to fund our military and foreign policy objectives, which in turn have REAL consequences to our economic vitality.

    The problem with regulation is that the general public doesn't have enough resources to buy the politicians needed to adopt the kinds of regulations that are needed to curtail Wall Street parasitism on the weakening system of free-market capitalism that is built of the back of the average American citizen. There is as yet an insufficient clamor from Wall Street to put regulations in place that will check excesses in place in order for Wall Street to protect itself (and the rest of us) from itself. Likewise, there is insufficient capital on Main Street or in Wall Street to pay for the increasing costs necessary to bring the system back to health. By doing what they can to put off solving problems (ie establishing regulations = laws that actually work as intended) politicians only insure that the problems eventually get too expensive to solve. Likewise, the American citizen clamors to be left alone to do whatever they want, while demanding that politicians fix all the problems they are too disinterested in solving themselves, but are too often inadvertently creating by generating problems by failing to act in concert.

    The bogeymen, "too much regulation" and "no new taxes" are being used adeptly by anyone interested in maintaining the regulatory status quo. To argue against regulations is to advocate policies that continue rather than correct current inequities and imbalances in the system.

    The reality is that government = regulations. Our country is founded on regulations (the US constitution). The absence of regulations is actually anarchy. Presently our system of government is looking more and more anarchic all the time because of a widespread belief among our citizenry that we are all entitled to be free of the dual burdens of citizenship, taxes and regulations, without giving sufficient thought as to what the consequences of such belief.

    On Mar 22 03:58 PM northstar10000 wrote:

    > unregulated markets leads to boom and bust is the most dishonest
    > statement I have heard today. Yes I hear a lot of dishonest stuff
    > daily.
    > Who in their right mind could believe the bold face lie that we have
    > unregulated markets. Because the left puts out nonsense we are suppose
    > to believe it. we are the most regulated markets in the world.<br/>If
    > we can't enforce the regulations we now have cut them in half and
    > keep doing it until the government can prove that they can handle
    > the simplistic moronic level that meets their competence.
    Mar 22 04:58 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    The FED is really, really scared about Deflation. The only way to defeat deflation is to make people believe that inflation is coming. Doing this is really hard, when you have a 54 trillion debt contraction happening. They need to act really irresponsible in order to make you think that Inflation is on the way. This is one of the many steps of irresponsibility.

    Unfortunately they don't get it. This is not a simple recession, where there manipulation tends to work. This is big all-singing-all-dancing depression, probably larger than 1929-1933. Thier actions will inevitable fail - deflation will win - however when we do start to come out of it (2011) then it will be into hyperinflation. Think empty shelves and oil to expensive to use.

    The manipulation of the Fed has gone on for so long that they have forgotten what their purpose was. Time for it to go and be replaced with gold standard and a free market.
    Mar 22 05:21 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Is it just me, or does it seem like the personal attacks always come from the left.
    Mar 22 05:36 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Seems to be the case, usually, yellowhoard! Karl needs to buy more US Bonds for his portfolio and anything else denominated in fiat that strikes his fancy. Good luck with that one, Karl!!!
    Mar 22 05:56 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Reportedly, Bernanke is an "expert", whatever that means, in the Great Depression. He would be a greater asset had he studied the Free Enterprise System.

    Does he know when to hold them and when to fold them? As an academic I doubt it as he never had to suffer the consequences of his errors (see Allan Greenspan, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, et al.). Goldman Sachs will always find a Board to put him on when he finally gets booted out and replaced by other Goldman water carrier.

    When will the country wake up to who is really pulling the strings of power in this country and have been doing so for a couple of decades. Is Wall Street that important? Why? Price discovery? Can do that in two hours a day so we don't need the NYSE and CNBC for that. Underwriting? What do the corporate attorneys and financial and accounting departments do? Google doesn't use these overpaid frauds.

    Time to label Wall Street Las Vegas East and for true investors to only invest in companies they have a special interest and knowledge in like they did in the fifties and sixties when you had analysts who actually did primary analysis rather than sitting at their computers marching to the drums of the investment bankers.

    An earlier writer referred to Bob Merton and Myron Scholes, founders of the Black and Scholes Formula with Fisher Black. Both of these gentlemen won a Nobel and were instrumental in putting LTCM into bankruptcy. They both still teach at Harvard and MIT so that is where a current batch of Wall Street losers are getting their educations.
    Mar 22 05:57 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    ----------------------...
    So did the Nobel prize winners of LTCM and the people who earned hundreds of millions of dollars at ML, CITI, Lehman, BoA, MS, GS name few.

    Give me other people's money and see my advanced theories take it to the sky

    OBAMA, Geithner, Bernanke - all are at high stake poker game funded by taxpayers. They have nothing to lose! They will get multimillion dollar speaking fees for rest of their lives, once they are finished with their poker game!

    Socialism means everyone will be poor and few will be very rich. Bring out the VODKA .........................




    On Mar 22 02:42 PM Karl Glazier wrote:

    > This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who
    > have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing
    > wrong.
    > It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.
    >
    >
    > Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    > With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead
    > to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    > And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited
    > amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    > Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to
    > regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    > Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 22 06:05 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Henry Ford said if we understood what happended when the FED was created, we would understand that a revolution was needed as our country has been hijacked by folks who care about their own wealth and power.

    The current crop of politicians in Congress(and White House) would be so inept, spineless, or social policy yahoos, I would not want THEM in charge of our monitary policy!

    Forget the Dem. Party, forget the Rep Party, lets find folks who will embrace and defend ALL of our Constitution. Let's call it the Tea Party! Get rid of the Fed, and the IRS(Note the IRS and the FED are linked - agents of enslavement, not supported by the Constitution)

    This country's treasure is its freedoms, not its finances.
    Mar 22 06:13 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    I'm glad to see a lot of people took Mr. Glazier to task. It's really not all that complicated how we get all this inflation. The Fed buys treasury bills by writing a check on itself. Where did it get the money? Out of the clear blue sky. Then the banks deposit the Fed check into their account at the Fed. Since we are operating on a 10% fractional reserve requirement, they then loan out up to 9 times that much money in loans (10% + 9(10%) = 100%). Where do they get the money? Out of the clear blue sky. What does all this money out of the clear blue sky cause? Inflation. Who benefits from the inflation? The first users of the money - the ones that get the first loans/bailouts and can use the money before its inflationary impact has had a chance to work its way through the rest of the system.

    How can we strike back? Withdraw our money out of the banks that took TARP funding. For every dollar we withdraw they will have to reduce their liabilities by $9, but nobody wants to buy them. Still think you're too small to make a difference? Think again. This is what I call applying leverage in reverse. It is what our grandparents would call a bank run.

    There are natural laws at work here that cannot be revoked or repealed by any government. Namely, the law of supply and demand. The law of supply and demand will eventually re-assert itself with a vengeance regardless of the actions of the Federal Reserve bank. All they can do is delay the day of reckoning, and by delaying it increase its severity when it finally comes. Eventually all this funny money will hit the streets, and when it does we will have inflation. The day may come when a dollar is not worth a Continental. Our ancestors learned this the hard way. We are in the process of re-learning it now.

    In an immoral way, they are solving this problem in the most cost effective way it can be solved. It is much more effective to re-capitalize the banks than it is to buy up the toxic assets - by approximately an order of magnitude. What I absolutely cannot stomach is that there is no reasonable justification for sticking the American taxpayer with the bill.

    To all those naysayers that are belittling Austrian economics, remember that we told you so two or three years from now when inflation rears its ugly head.

    As for crediting Paulson and Bernanke with expert status, if they are in charge and they are such experts then why are we here? Why should I trust the arsonists to put out the fire?
    Mar 22 06:15 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Good article. I agree abolish the Fed. I also tend to be on the left economically but on the right socially and while capitalism continues to be the economic model in practice, trading is a good way to go.
    Mar 22 06:22 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Money represents labor, period. As long as somebody will give me $100.00 for what I think is $100.00 worth of work and I can get what I think is $100.00 worth of goods for it, I and most everybody else is content.

    Meanwhile, after 30 years of hard work the US government finished the world's first Fusion reactor(a "small" enclosed repeatable H-Bomb), to research H-Bombs for our nuclear security, to research limitless, cheap, clean power generation using Fusion, and to research fundemental science. This technology should be commercialized in about 10 years and should free the US from foreign oil dependance and maybe make the US an energy exporter. Maybe it could be sped up considering its importance, it seems like the previous administration, which was composed of oil men were in no hurry for its conpletion.
    Mar 22 06:24 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Watched FOX news lately?


    On Mar 22 05:36 PM yellowhoard wrote:

    > Is it just me, or does it seem like the personal attacks always come
    > from the left.
    Mar 22 06:33 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Close, but not exactly. Money is nothing more than a medium of exchange. It does not represent labor. An item's cost reflects the value that you place on acquiring that item if you are the buyer or departing with it if you are the seller. In the eyes of the seller, his labor is of value. In the eyes of the buyer, only the item is of value. The seller's labor is irrelevant to the buyer, so therefore labor cannot be equated to money.


    On Mar 22 06:24 PM r0364 wrote:

    > Money represents labor, period. As long as somebody will give me
    > $100.00 for what I think is $100.00 worth of work and I can get what
    > I think is $100.00 worth of goods for it, I and most everybody else
    > is content.
    Mar 22 06:33 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    I, for one, look forward to wiping my ass with US currency in the future.

    Here's to the Fed!
    Mar 22 06:42 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Karl,

    Sorry to burst your bubble re: free markets, but we don't have one. How do you know that unregulated markets lead to booms and busts when you have never lived in one?

    Our market is highly regulated. In fact, the supply of money and the cost of money (interest rates) are controlled by the Fed not the free market. The Federal Reserve Bank, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc. are creatures of government not the free market. These wonderful government entities are the primary drivers behind our current boom bust cycle.

    In fact, the artificially low interest rates actually contribuited to a decline in real savings while at the same time there was an increase the demand for loanable funds (debt). This created the mismatch and also created an unsustainable level of debt and misdirected resources to unprofitable (can you say "sub-prime" mortgages and new home consftruction) projects.

    Good luck on curing the business cycle with more regulation. In fact, how does the government regulate the government?


    On Mar 22 02:42 PM Karl Glazier wrote:

    > This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who
    > have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing
    > wrong.
    > It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.
    >
    >
    > Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    > With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead
    > to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    > And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited
    > amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    > Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to
    > regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    > Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 22 07:09 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Here try this shocker on for size...land.netonecom.net/tlp...

    Why do these financial warlords have aceess to taxpayers trillions???
    Mar 22 07:13 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    "Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice."

    --Karl Glazier

    Wow, that comment is an absolute howl!

    If SeekingAlpha had a top ten for "just plain wrong" that line would have to be at or near the very top.
    Mar 22 08:54 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Isn't Karl Glazier that guy that scrubs the toilets at the Fed? The Fed needs to be eliminated if for no other reason than to be the first step of returning the control of this Republic back to the citizens. Karl, Bernanke is an idiot.
    Mar 22 09:00 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Karl Glazier wrote:
    "Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice."

    Let me tell you something. I am a scientist.
    There are no such things as "advanced theories". There are two sets of theories: "good & working ones" and garbage.

    What ever Ben Bernanke has done, it always was a failure and a lie:
    - During the entire 2008, Ben was trying to prevent a recession. Early in 2009, Ben admitted that the USA were in a recession starting in 2007. Ben not only failed to prevent a recession but he lied about it for more than 12 months
    - Back in June 2007, Ben told us that "subprime" mortgages were not a problem. He failed to prevent the subprime crisis and lied about it
    - This list can go on and on.

    PS
    Karl Glazier, you should apply for a job at the Treasury. They do need fools and liars.
    Mar 22 09:07 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    conceptwizard- as a conspiracy theorist, maybe you should research the Trilateral Commission or rather check out this link.www.usagold.com/federa...
    Mar 22 09:15 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    These two paragraphs I like most:

    "In the long run, this move ("quantitative easing" by Ben Bernanke) was extremely harmful to the economy, and will inevitably create inflation and higher interest rates.

    This recent move is an act of desperation by the Federal Reserve, and has only ever been done in third world countries before the US did it this week, and the UK did it last week."

    This is exactly where America is heading => 3rd-world country status.
    Mar 22 09:18 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    I hope you are wrong, but I fear you are right.

    I hope enough Americans wake up soon enough to reverse the current course, but I fear they would rather watch The Biggest Loser and their favorite sports teams on TV. I admit that I was not interested in banking or how it worked at all until I got angry about the bailout and resolved to find out why things are the way they are. I think they may have finally over reached to the point that enough Americans are fed up with things and are starting to ask questions. I hope every incumbent Congressman in both parties is voted out of office in 2010. I hope the first thing the new Congress does in 2011 is abolish the Fed, but I fear they won't.

    On Mar 22 09:18 PM nova wrote:

    > This is exactly where America is heading => 3rd-world country status.
    Mar 22 09:41 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    If you read a little more carefully, you will see that I was referring to the Japanese government tried lowering their fed funds rate to zero, not buying back their own debt.

    Buying treasuries on the open market is actually one of the "accepted" practices of the federal reserve when necessary to increase the money supply, but not at a time when record amounts of new treasuries are being issued.

    This is selling with the right hand, and buying back with the left hand. It is a pathetic attempt to make the treasury bond auctions look like they are not failing.


    On Mar 22 03:46 PM lbsterling wrote:

    > You say the Fed buying long bonds "has only ever been done in third
    > world countries before the US did it this week, and the UK did it
    > last week."
    >
    > Of course the U.S. did it in the 1940s and you yourself say one paragraph
    > later :
    > "Japan tried this in 1991, and their economy has never recovered."
    >
    >
    > Why should we listen to anything else you say when you are ignorant
    > of history and self-contradictory?
    >
    >
    Mar 22 10:05 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Unfortunately modern economics has for all intents and purposes failed us in this crises. But ultimately what can you really expect from a 'social' science. Economics is not mathematics, it's not physics - it's closer to unproven theories of human behaviour. The economics of Bernanke and Greenspan will probably (not certainly) enter the dustbin of history.

    Instead we should look to history for our answers for it is history that Mr. Bernanke is at war with. However history says it will win no matter how hard Bernanke and his henchmen try to change its course.

    And what does history say? Basically that most of you including Bernanke will be wrong. That you have just gone through the greatest expansion of debt (oops I'm supposed to say credit aren't I) in history and you will now go through the greatest contraction of debt in history(after all insolvency removes debt, doesn't it). It's very simple, very unintellectual but very elegant - historically elegant. What's coming is not inflation, it is not hyperinflation. It's not even deflation. It will be a monstrous credit contraction called hyperdeflation. Mr. Bernanke should be worried - we all should be worried. We will not escape history.

    Oh and BTW to conceptwizard's little tirade above - history says it will all all be blamed on the Jews! But of course - nothing really changes that much.
    Mar 22 10:51 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    conceptwizard wrote:
    " A list of the actual owners of the Federal Reserve of USA
    > Rothschilds of London and Berlin
    > Lazard Brothers of Paris
    > Israel Moses Seaf of Italy
    > Kuhn, Loeb &amp; Co. of Germany and New York
    > Warburg &amp; Company of Hamburg, Germany
    > Lehman Brothers of New York
    > Goldman, Sachs of New York
    > Rockefeller Brothers of New York
    > All of the above listed entities are of "the chosen ones".

    This time "the chosen ones" might end up with a rope around their neck.
    Mar 22 11:47 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    What would happen if
    1. Enough US notes were printed to pay off entire national debt
    2. Banks were forced to absorb the increased money supply by increasing their reserve ratio to 100%

    There would be no increase in the money supply and hence no inflation - comments?
    Mar 23 12:56 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Bernanake is an "expert" and Ron Paul the amatuer. Well as I remember Noah's Ark was built by amateurs; it was the Titanic that was built by the experts.
    Mar 23 03:33 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Bernanke has been wrong since he has been in office. Maybe the broken clock will get it right soon.
    Mar 23 05:29 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    That's an interesting thought. I would add to it that we would then re-index the dollar to an ounce of gold at whatever price was needed to justify the new money supply and go back on the gold standard. This is also what Murray Rothbard proposed to do. The only draw back I can see to it is the reaction of foreign investors. People might stay away from treasury bills like the plague for a while, but that might not be all bad either. It will cure the other rationale for having a central bank. The politicians like the central banking scheme because it allows them to finance whatever boondoggle government program they can dream up. If people stopped buying treasury bills, would the government stop running up debts? Could that finally be what brings the government to the point that it downsizes and starts budgeting like the rest of us - if the money is not there don't spend it? That would be a worthwhile secondary effect.

    What would happen if we simply canceled our debt that we "owe" to the Federal Reserve bank? After all, it's not like it really cost them anything to buy the debt in the first place. This is another of Rothbard's ideas, and it would reduce the volume of money that we would have to print to pay off the debt.


    On Mar 23 12:56 AM jeffc wrote:

    > What would happen if
    > 1. Enough US notes were printed to pay off entire national debt
    >
    > 2. Banks were forced to absorb the increased money supply by increasing
    > their reserve ratio to 100%
    >
    > There would be no increase in the money supply and hence no inflation
    > - comments?
    Mar 23 06:59 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    There is no proof that any of this works. It is amazing the generalizations that come out of TWO examples (1930s and Japan in the 1990s).

    The best we can say for quantitative easing is that it is an interesting theory.
    Mar 23 08:23 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Harold,
    Your article is certainly as provocative as Ron Paul himself. There are times that I wonder whether common sense has a place in economic policy. The law seems to have been left behind ages ago when anti-trust legislation was ignored and the hot money era in America became all the rage. We are no longer a nation of laws, but are run by a cabal of thieves.

    The time for change has come and passed us by. The Fed and the Treasury have prescribed the medicine: A STRONG DOSE OF TOXIC ASSETS, WASHED DOWN THE THROAT OF THE PEOPLE WITH BORROWED CASH!!!

    We will choke on the cure the expert doctors have prescribed. The next experiment will be the use of leeches to bleed us dry.
    Mar 23 08:57 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Back to what brought this mess about:

    The government forced banks to invent the subprime loan in the 1990s, and then encouraged Fannie & Freddie to buy up as many subprimes as they could.

    The big NY Houses sold them all over the world, and many lending institutions kept a lot of subprimes on their books. Cheap money encouraged financial institutions to invent more ways to put those cheap funds to work, all with leverage of course.

    The Fed kept the fed funds rate at 1% for several years, which encouraged the whole nation to overleverage itself, and along with loan brokers and builders and the government encouraging people to buy homes whether they could afford them or not, brought about a run up in real estate prices.

    And then with 17 straight unprecedented moves the Fed ran rates back up to 5 1/4%, and this reversed the whole scenario by drying up credit and causing real estate prices to come crashing down.

    This is a simplified version of the perfect formula for what caused the all-time greatest financial blowout in the history of the world.

    And what does the government and the fed want to do now? Take on even more debt!

    Another formula for what will eventually be the sure enough biggest bust out in the history of the civilized world.

    Surely these egg heads have a back up plan for when they ruin the dollar and the nation's credit?

    Does anyone know what it is? Or, or these people morons?

    Note: The federal reserve definitely did a similar thing in the 1920s, when it primed the pump for six straight years and then in 1928, along with European central banks, slammed the brakes on the money supply and left their foot on the brake pedal for years.
    Mar 23 09:15 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    This guy looks too funny to be taken seriously. Instead of writing go lose weight.
    Mar 23 09:27 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Encouraging that four out of five thumbs disagree with Karl Glazier (commentor #1). Someone writes really bad analogies (I'm looking your way Karl!).

    I can't explain Greenspan, who should've known better. Maybe politics got to him.

    I can explain Bernake. He simply doesn't have the horsepower between his ears. Yes, I am a little peeved that the currency I trade my labor for is being devalued. It is precious to me...gollum.

    I will now go read the rest of Karl's comments for my amusement.



    Mar 23 09:50 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    You have got to be kidding me !!! This might be the dumbest post I have ever read !!! You say print more money and you call Ron Paul an amateur ?? Regualation/The Fed is what got us into this mess !!! Japan has done exactly what you are suggesting..how's that working out ??


    On Mar 22 02:42 PM Karl Glazier wrote:

    > This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who
    > have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing
    > wrong.
    > It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.
    >
    >
    > Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    > With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead
    > to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    > And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited
    > amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    > Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to
    > regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    > Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 23 10:12 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    The sad thing is we can discuss this all day and night...but whens it finally over in a few years there wont be a middle class left...it will only be the incredibly wealthy, living in fortified palaces and the poor...the VERY poor.
    Mar 23 10:34 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Well, here we are with a rally. Sell into the rally.
    Mar 23 10:34 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    I was expecting the Fed to start some sort of "quantitative easing" or whatever you want to call it much earlier than this. But Bernanke should be buying up more than just longer term treasury bonds; I'd like to see the Fed pick up undervalued land, metals and oil (by financing the re-filling of the SPR). The reasoning for this is that assets like these can be sold when velocity and reserve ratios return to their historic norms, to avoid, or at least tame, the inflation that will result from all of this "new" money. This makes it far preferable to having the Fed lend the money to the treasury, which would inevitably throw it down one rat hole or another, never to be retrieved (we've seen enough of that with the "stimulus" packages of the past year). It's also preferable to letting the country fall further into a depression.

    PS: Can we assume that this will put an end to Washington's insufferably hypocritical whining about China's "currency manipulation"? Probably not, but it might tone it down a little.
    Mar 23 10:38 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Karl Glazier ,"now we see through a dark glass ,but dimly" Glazier ,go clean the socialist fingerprints off your glass.
    Mar 23 10:46 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithnet, Larry Sommers, and Co .... are very smart free market economists. They will do whatever to get this economy on its feet. They are tackling this problem from all angles. In the mean time, be patient, invest wisely, and make money!

    TaurusTrader
    www.taurustrader.wordp...
    Mar 23 10:51 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    He had no card now.
    He did not lower mortgage rate at all this time.
    He will produce inflation in the next five years, that could remove Obama from office in 2012.
    Mar 23 11:23 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Turkeyfish: "government = regulations. Our country is founded on regulations (the US constitution). The absence of regulations is actually anarchy."

    Anarchy (not chaos) sounds pretty good and you have a convoluted definition of government.

    praha1: "Unfortunately modern economics has for all intents and purposes failed us in this crises. But ultimately what can you really expect from a 'social' science. "

    Other failures:
    Modern medicine has failed us, because I put leaches on my body but still have cancer.

    Modern nutrition has failed us, because I ate McDonald's and still got fat.

    Modern science has failed us, because they had a transporter on Star Trek but I still don't have one.

    Jeesh.
    Mar 23 11:28 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    with widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply
    will not lead to inflation, only if the market builds more mac mansions
    Mar 23 12:17 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    On Mar 22 04:48 PM Aalan wrote:
    > You would like to down the whole system in order to promote an ideological
    > rather than a pragmatic goal. That's not capitalism; that's Leninism.


    NO, it's Bush/Reaganism !! and it's how we got here..............
    Mar 23 01:17 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    If you wanna know who owns the banks , read " In God's Name " by David A. Yallop ...... In fact this book exposes the beginnings of the great ponzi schemes banks have been using for years now , and it will also give you a glimpse as to why " Swiss Banks " have impunity against any Law , except the Law that says they don't have to tell anyone anything at any time ....... They operate in complete secrecy , and the most powerful man in the entire world is in charge ..... and NO , it's not the Rothchilds or Rockefellers
    Mar 23 01:24 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Bernanke is alredy an unqualified success in my book. The financial system didn't collapse in November 2008. It almost did. And certainly would have if some of the folks who have posted here were in charge.


    On Mar 22 05:57 PM Prudent Man CFA wrote:

    > Reportedly, Bernanke is an "expert", whatever that means, in the
    > Great Depression. He would be a greater asset had he studied the
    > Free Enterprise System.
    >
    > Does he know when to hold them and when to fold them? As an academic
    > I doubt it as he never had to suffer the consequences of his errors
    > (see Allan Greenspan, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, et al.). Goldman
    > Sachs will always find a Board to put him on when he finally gets
    > booted out and replaced by other Goldman water carrier.
    >
    > When will the country wake up to who is really pulling the strings
    > of power in this country and have been doing so for a couple of decades.
    > Is Wall Street that important? Why? Price discovery? Can do that
    > in two hours a day so we don't need the NYSE and CNBC for that. Underwriting?
    > What do the corporate attorneys and financial and accounting departments
    > do? Google doesn't use these overpaid frauds.
    >
    > Time to label Wall Street Las Vegas East and for true investors to
    > only invest in companies they have a special interest and knowledge
    > in like they did in the fifties and sixties when you had analysts
    > who actually did primary analysis rather than sitting at their computers
    > marching to the drums of the investment bankers.
    >
    > An earlier writer referred to Bob Merton and Myron Scholes, founders
    > of the Black and Scholes Formula with Fisher Black. Both of these
    > gentlemen won a Nobel and were instrumental in putting LTCM into
    > bankruptcy. They both still teach at Harvard and MIT so that is where
    > a current batch of Wall Street losers are getting their educations.
    Mar 23 01:30 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Question:

    Is there a limit to how much the Fed can buy in TBills?

    Seems like we are financing our own debt.
    Mar 23 01:31 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Disarming the FED...

    Now that's one kind of "gun control" I'd support.
    Mar 23 03:05 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    The Fed will be "out of ammo" when they are the only ones bidding low interest rates at the long bond auctions. Coming soon I think.
    Mar 23 03:13 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    I can't believe nobody asked this question....so I guess I might as well do it:


    What does the Federal Reserve do that the United States Government cannot do themselves? Why leave one of the most powerful and influential tools (i.e. the control of the money supply) to an entity that is outside the U.S. government...and beyond the jurisdiction of regulation and the congressional and legislative process? For what purpose or benefit does this serve?

    In contrast, the Canadian central bank (Bank of Canada) is a government entity. It is a "crown corporation" that is 100% owned by the Canadian government and therefore 100% owned by the Canadian people. The Bank of Canada's books are also open to regular audits. And this system seems to have been working quite well for the Canadians since 1938. Why can't the Americans adopt the same system?
    Mar 23 04:17 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    barking-- that's the plan !--The illuminati does NOT want a strong middle class . This Has all been planned!
    Mar 23 11:21 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Ayn Rand
    The White Russian Nazi who believes that the Superman in history is everything and the ordinary people nothing. Ho Hum. Ayn Rand = Public Capital sequestered and manipulated by private hands i.e.the Federal Reserve = Capitalism now being held together with haywire and spit. and another ho hum.
    Mar 24 08:15 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    What a stellar comment ....cretin.


    On Mar 23 09:27 AM mike mohr wrote:

    > This guy looks too funny to be taken seriously. Instead of writing
    > go lose weight.
    Mar 25 05:09 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    PRINTING money is hardly an "advanced theory".


    On Mar 22 02:42 PM Karl Glazier wrote:

    > This is a typical example of amateur economists (like Ron Paul) who
    > have no idea how things work telling the experts what they are doing
    > wrong.
    > It's like laymen telling brain surgeons they are doing it all wrong.
    >
    >
    > Bernanke is putting the most advanced theories into practice.
    > With widespread overcapacity, increasing money supply will not lead
    > to inflation, but to renewed economic growth.
    > And the Fed is not out of ammunition, because they can create unlimited
    > amounts of money, whatever is needed to get us growing again.
    > Ron Paul's libertarianism (represented by Greenspan's refusal to
    > regulate) is what got us into this mess.
    > Unregulated markets lead to booms and busts.
    Mar 25 08:50 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Keep drinking the Kool-aid. Social engineering got us here. Ever hear of the CRA? Guess who the new engineer is?


    On Mar 23 01:17 PM billyboy54 wrote:

    > On Mar 22 04:48 PM Aalan wrote:
    Mar 25 03:40 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    There was a securities auction this morning selling 5 year notes. It didn't go well as there weren't many buyers. I guess all of this newly printed money isn't very atractive.
    Mar 25 03:43 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    It seems that this is already happening.


    On Mar 23 03:13 PM henarl wrote:

    > The Fed will be "out of ammo" when they are the only ones bidding
    > low interest rates at the long bond auctions. Coming soon I think.
    Mar 25 03:45 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Dear Nova, go back to reading "The Protocols of The Ancient Elders of Zion", and believe that propaganda fiction is fact. The link you put on is utter nonsense, you malicious dummy.


    On Mar 22 11:47 PM nova wrote:

    > conceptwizard wrote:
    > " A list of the actual owners of the Federal Reserve of USA
    Mar 26 11:26 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Nice comments. i praised and don't want insert anything else.
    **********************...
    Barb Scott
    One of the great things about in-game money and virtual economies is that they never went through this whole economic meltdown. So take that to all of those people who think the real world is better then computer games!
    Buy WoW Gold
    Jul 11 06:31 AM | Link | Reply