Thank You, TSA, NSA, IRS, FBI and CIA!

By Bill Bonner

It’s been “Bureaucrat Appreciation Week.”

Just when we had lost all respect for them, we notice a countertrend. It’s time for us to get in step. So, today, we take time out from our regularly scheduled programming to thank the people who rule us…

To the TSA agents at airports… to the IRS agents who audit our tax returns… to the NSA agents who read our emails… and to zombies everywhere…

To all of you, we’d like to say a heartfelt “Go f***k yourself.”

No… no… no…

We meant to say THANK YOU!

Yes, dear reader, we’ve got to bring our thinking in line with the prevailing trend. And today, the US is developing a real affection and respect for authority!

Americans seem to like to have people rifle through their luggage and pat down their grandmothers at airports. It makes them feel safer.

The Fed’s Dirty Little Secret

Americans want someone “in charge” of the US economy too. That’s why the new chairman of the Fed is so important.

What are the requirements for the job? It has to be someone who can keep a secret and tell a joke with a straight face.

The secret is that the Fed can’t really control the economy. It can influence it. But the influence it has is all negative. That’s the joke.

Fixing interest rates at any level other than that chosen by willing borrowers and lenders, the Fed distorts the price of credit… and the price of just about every other financial asset that is priced off interest rates.

And distorting prices always leads to problems – either shortages or surpluses.

Also, by fixing rates at ultra-low levels, the Fed is stealing from one group and giving to another. The middle class, savers and working people lose wealth. Hedge fund managers, bankers, zombies… and, of course, those lovable feds… gain.

That’s why the rich are getting richer as everyone else loses ground. They call it a “stimulus” program. And they’re right: It’s very stimulating for those who get the money.

As for the rest – well, the joke’s on us!

Bill Bonner founded Agora, Inc in 1978. It has since grown into one of the largest independent newsletter publishing companies in the world. He has also written three New York Times bestselling books, Financial Reckoning Day, Empire of Debt and Mobs, Messiahs and Markets.

The above article originally appeared at www.billbonnersdiary.com.