Friday, July 26, 2013

Mort Zuckerman as Ben Bernanke's Jewish Mother

Mort Zuckerman, chairman and editor in chief of U.S. News & World Report, is out in WSJ with such a puff piece on Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that I would think even Bernanke's mother would be too embarrassed to write it. It sets a new bar for Jewish mothers.

Zuck tells us:
The Fed and Mr. Bernanke were instrumental in pulling the country—and ultimately the world economy—back from the abyss. Yet the heroic effort seems increasingly held in low regard, if not contempt.
Actually as I detailed in real time in the Summer of 2008, it was Ben Bernanke's manipulation of the money supply that caused the boom and bust. Further, as I am now reporting in the EPJ Daily Alert, Bernanke policies could very well be setting us up for another crash (Most likely in September/October).

Here's Zuck in full Jewish mother mode:
Chairman Bernanke's term doesn't end until January, and he could have been reappointed, but he is being pushed toward the exit—by none other than the president of the United States. Last month, in a TV interview with Charlie Rose on PBS, President Obama said that Mr. Bernanke had "stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to."

This comment made it clear that Mr. Bernanke's days were numbered, and it deprived the Fed chairman of the dignity of making his own announcement. Mr. Bernanke was not even allowed to decide for himself that he might not want to re-up for another tour of duty after eight exhausting years dealing with the worst economic and financial crisis of the U.S. since the 1930s. 
Such shabby treatment is unpardonable. Ben Bernanke should be honored for his contributions.
Zuck on the genius of Bernanke:
When the financial disaster hit in 2008, the Federal Reserve was quite simply the country's last hope, and it was the chairman who came to the rescue. The former Princeton professor is an outstanding scholar of the Great Depression and especially of the disastrous consequences of bank failures.
As I have detailed, Bernanke is a mad scientist. The man even instituted Operation Twist after writing a research paper that said he didn't know if it would work.

More Zuck cheerleading:
 He transformed the Fed into the role of a daring, financial first-responder and as an active market participant, rather than limiting the institution to its traditional role of controlling the money supply.
Well actually, Bernanke's daring has resulted in $2 trillion (Yes, TWO TRILLION!! ), sitting as excess reserves at the Fed. These reserves could flow into the economy at anytime. How's first responder Ben going to deal with that? Will he raise rates by, say, 200 basis points to drain that incoming money into the system?

Then Zuck goes way over the top:
 The president's mean-spirited dismissal of perhaps the greatest central banker in American history is another indication of an administration that has no clue how serious the country's current economic condition is. What a shame to have so cavalierly treated the very architect of the policies that saved America from another Great Depression.
The greatest central banker in American history? The only reason Bernanke isn't the worst is because Jimmy Carter once put a tool and die man, G. William Miller, in as Fed chairman---and still it is even odds that Bernanke will make such a mess of things in his remaining months that he could top Miller as the worst Fed chairman ever.

Hey Zuck, I think Bernanke has a cold, could you please bring over to him some chicken soup?

(HT Christopher Barcelo )

3 comments:

  1. I think the only decent thing we can do at this point, is all chip in and buy Mort a shovel so he can move this gargantuan load of crap...

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  2. Not that it's a big deal, but it's "Tool & Die".

    Dye is what you use to color stuff with.

    Die can either be:

    Death;

    singlular for dice;

    A device (sometimes metal, most likely how you used it above) used to shape or form something via various methods such bending, pounding, cutting/shearing, etc.
    or a few other meanings.

    That being said, let us hope that all people associated with the Tool & Die industry aren't economic illiterates.

    :)

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  3. Can the Fed just say, "all excess deserve held at the federal reserve is being immediately confiscated"?

    ReplyDelete