dagblog - Comments for "ARE BERNANKE'S PIPES LEAKING?"

I've heard it said the little

Resistance — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:57:52 +0000

In reply to Right, Obama is making the

I've heard it said the little banks are unwilling to lend?

I would be reluctant too if I were a small bank, realizing the larger ones were out there as predators. ready to devour me up, with the assistance of the federal government picking the winners and the losers; favoring the TBTF banks over the smaller banks

We all know,mergers and aquisitons are the next big business trend.

Cash is king.

Right, Obama is making the

Oxy Mora — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:35:31 +0000

In reply to Are you sure you've described

Right, Obama is making the coffee. I think in truth Bernanke has as much of a boss as he would have as a tenured Professor at Princeton. And I think his intellectual legacy among economists is his reference point. He mentions over and over his studies of the Great Depression. And I do think he helped stave off systemic collapse. He seems to have used the levers of the Fed in innovative ways. But I'm looking for more innovation and re-engineering, some way to hard pipe the stimulus to where it needs to go rather than to dump it into the reserve account of a member bank and hope for the best.

In order to hard pipe the system the real questions in my mind are: Are there tools Bernanke already has to hard pipe the money to where it will create jobs? Are there tools which would shift the emphasis away from mega banks and onto smaller banks? Does he already have these tools and is simply not using them for whatever reasons--personal (for example, what's in it for him to take a risk?) or policy wise? When he talks about smaller banks, and his 40 meetings with them and small businesses across the country I just get the impression that he is going through the motions.

I am really frosted at the current philosophical discussion on whether Bernanke's QE2 is actually creating the inflation which is driving up the costs of commodities. Isn't it as simple as saying Goldman Sachs is running up the prices because they have more funds than they know what to do with and that they have no interest, intention, mechanics or ability to pump money into Main Street?

Thanks for the reference.

Oxy Mora — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:19:12 +0000

In reply to Emma, maybe you can search

Thanks for the reference.

Are you sure you've described

SleepinJeezus — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:18:49 +0000

In reply to I assume the press conference

Are you sure you've described the relationship in correct terms? It's not too far a stretch to believe that when Obama meets with Bernanke, Summers, et. al., it is Obama who is in charge of making the coffee and setting up the A/V equipment.

Emma, maybe you can search

Resistance — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:10:46 +0000

In reply to Any idea where I can get a

Emma, maybe you can search for it here.

At top right of the page I searched under the term Bernanke

Ben Bernanke Unwilling to Own Negative Effects of Money Printing

http://www.minyanville.com/

Picture Bernanke as the

Oxy Mora — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:19:17 +0000

In reply to I'd say the commode

Picture Bernanke as the architect telling his client, "well the plans weren't right--see right here, the toilet is facing the wrong way in the water closet and there isn't enough room for someone to sit there without banging their knees against the tub. This definitely isn't working."

Right, holding the banks

Oxy Mora — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:12:07 +0000

In reply to I believe the last figures I

Right, holding the banks harmless--that frosts me.

Right, the metaphor wasn't

Oxy Mora — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:02:00 +0000

In reply to Wait, who exactly is the

Right, the metaphor wasn't flushed out properly.

The mega banks would be best characterized as cracked commodes. (And the word is still used in the country, believe it or not.)

I assume the press conference

Oxy Mora — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:50:35 +0000

In reply to Any idea where I can get a

I assume the press conference will be repeated this weekend on C-span.

Bernanke's demeanor bowls me over. It's as if he's saying to his boss, "Yeah, we spent the money and it's not working the way it's supposed to. We'll have to wait and see, maybe need more money."Who else in the universe can get away with such unaccountability?

Any idea where I can get a

EmmaZahn — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 00:11:25 +0000

In reply to ARE BERNANKE'S PIPES LEAKING?

Any idea where I can get a transcript of this that does not cost $55?

I listened to Bernanke this afternoon while cleaning my kitchen. The way he phrased a sentence was important but I would prefer not to have to listen to the whole thing again if I don't have to. Plus I might miss the sentence a few times before finding it again.