I don’t pretend to understand monetary policy, and I don’t have an opinion one way or another on Ben Bernanke or previous Fed chairmen, but this caught my eye.
I have a miniscule amount of money in the stock market, and so I know the market pays close attention to Bernanke’s words. And—it seems to like what he has had say recently about the Fed being prepared to take action to stimulate economic growth should it the economy continue to recover slowly (or stagnate, or decline).
This of course, would be disastrous for Republicans as it might actually result in an increased probability of the president being re-elected.
From the NYT—in response to Bernanke:
“The truth is, the Federal Reserve cannot rescue Americans from the consequences of failed economic and regulatory policies passed by Congress and signed by the president,” the committee chairman, Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, said in his opening statement. [Emphasis added]
So….because we had a miniscule Keynesian stimulus, we have to suffer economically, so that right-wing prophecy can be self-fulfilled.
And any problems with the US economy are the fault of the stimulus, and the failure to further deregulate. Nothing to do with global conditions, etc.
Other Republicans cautioned that an expansion of the Fed’s existing efforts could deepen the nation’s financial challenges by postponing a necessary reckoning and eventually accelerating the pace of inflation.
Ahhh yes, inflation. The worst enemy of the 1%. The rest of us have to face a “reckoning” so that inflation doesn’t devalue their billions into, well, slightly fewer billions.
Just a quick diary—I’ve never seen individual representatives quite so craven in their desire for continued economic pain. These people are true sociopaths.