CBS Allows Fed to Spread Disinformation Unchallenged
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
It appears the CBS TV show 60 Minutes is the Federal Reserve’s go-to place to get its message out to the country. Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, basically, told America last night that the trillions he pumped out into the world economy, because of the 2008 financial meltdown, was necessary to save us all from a depression. Ben also reassured America and the world Quantitative Easing (QE), or printing vast amount of dollars, will not have an inflationary downside. He told 60 Minutes reporter Scott Pelley he is “100%”sure inflation will remain under control and will not soar higher. In my opinion, what Mr. Bernanke said could not be further from the truth. Most of the world’s financial leaders from places like China, Russia, Germany and Brazil all think what the Fed is doing is a very bad idea.
Anyone who finds Mr. Bernanke’s inflation prediction comforting should look at his past forecasts. The Fed Chief has been wrong on almost every major prophecy he’s given since he’s been in office. Just 4 years ago, Ben Bernanke predicted “a leveling out or a modest softening” in residential real estate prices and that homeowners were in “reasonably good”financial shape. Three years ago, Mr. Bernanke said the sub-prime mortgage crisis “seems likely to be contained.” Since then, we’ve had record foreclosures in the millions per year, and in some markets, home values have been cut in half!
Bernanke admitted last night he did not see the financial meltdown coming. How could he say anything else? Pelley did ask Bernanke, “How did the Fed miss the looming financial crisis?” Bernanke responded, “There were large portions of the financial system that were not adequately covered by the regulatory oversight.” It was the Federal Reserve that said repeatedly Over-The-Counter derivatives did not have to be regulated. Derivatives are exotic and sometimes toxic “debt bets” with little or no regulation, standards or guarantees. Soured OTC derivatives were largely responsible for the meltdown of 2008. If there were large portions of the economy that “were not adequately covered by the regulatory oversight,” it was the Fed who lobbied against regulating these “debt bets.” So, the Federal Reserve’s lack of regulation over a market, that is hundreds of trillions of dollars in size, is the cause of the meltdown of 2008. 60 Minutes did not bring up this important point.
On the question of printing money, the Fed Chief said, “One myth that’s out there is that what we’re doing is printing money. We’re not printing money. The amount of money in circulation is not changing. . . .What we’re doing is lowering interest rates by buying treasury securities and, by lowering interest rates, we hope to stimulate the economy to grow faster.” The Fed iscreating money electronically to buy treasuries because if the U.S. financed the country’s debt through auction, foreign investors would demand much higher interest rates. So, the Fed is buying the government’s own debt and, thus, holding interest rates artificially low. If that is not “printing money,” I don’t know what is. The academic term is called “monetization,” and how Bernanke’s statement went unchallenged by Scott Pelley, is beyond me. 60 Minutes allowed the Fed to spew its prognosis about the chances for more inflation without any dissenting view, even though Pelley said critics think what the Fed is doing is a “terrible idea.” What kind of one-sided reporting is this?
I think it is the same kind of journalism I saw 60 Minutes do in August of 2009. I wrote about it in a post called “The Soft Truth.” Back then I said, “In June, 60 Minutes did an updated profile of Fed Chief Ben Bernanke. Good time to do this story because we are suffering through what former Fed Chief Paul Volker says is “the mother of all crises.” The Fed has denied Freedom of Information requests by two different news networks to get the Fed to reveal which banks got trillions of dollars to avoid systemic collapse . . . Why 60 minutes did not press the Fed Chief about the secrecy of vast sums of money is troubling to me. Should the American taxpayer expect the Fed to “fix” the system behind closed doors without public scrutiny? We did get to see Bernanke’s childhood home in the CBS story, and that is what’s really important!” (Click here to read the complete version of the Soft Truth.)
Mr. Bernanke is charged with guiding the economy at a time of great uncertainty. If 60 Minutes allowing the man in charge of monetary policy to explain what he is doing, shouldn’t his track record be of profound importance? Of course, and yet Bernanke was not asked to explain any of his terrible predictions and wrong market calls. Just this past August (in Jackson Hole Wyoming) Mr. Bernanke said, “I expect the economy to continue to expand in the second half of this year, albeit at a relatively modest pace.” In early November, the Fed announced more Quantitative Easing in the amount of $600 billion because the economy was still in the tank—another erroneous call. The Fed Chief did not rule out more QE and said, “It doesn’t seem likely that we’ll have a double dip recession.” Based on Mr. Bernanke’s record, I’d bet on another sharp downturn in the economy and more money printing to stop the fall.
When it came to sub-prime loans, Bernanke said, “One of the things I most regret is that we weren’t strong enough in putting in consumer protections to try to cut down on the subprime lending problem. That’s an area where I think we could have done more.” The Fed wants to protect consumers? Is that why the Fed is trying to make it harder for consumers to stop foreclosures? McClatchy.com reported last week, “As Americans continue to lose their homes in record numbers, the Federal Reserve is considering making it much harder for homeowners to stop foreclosures and escape predatory home loans with onerous terms. The Fed’s proposal to amend a 42-year-old provision of the federal Truth in Lending Act has angered labor, civil rights and consumer advocacy groups along with a slew of foreclosure defense attorneys.” (Click here for the complete story from McClatchy.com.) Why didn’t 60 catch this obvious piece of BS?
The 60 Minutes story was more of a government information video than honest journalism. Not exploring Mr. Bernanke’s dismal track record is “too stupid to be stupid.” Shame on 60 Minutes for masquerading as a news program and allowing disinformation and bad calls to go unquestioned and unchallenged.
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About the Author
Greg Hunter
Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.
Greg, shame on you for expecting the tough questions and truth from any television news source. Hell we are all on the edge of our chairs waiting to see if the one party will except extended unemployment benefits for keeping the tax cuts for the richest among us. Gee another spend more and take in less plan?? things are really going to change now the republicans have the house! they are going to make government much more responsible! ha ha
Great s to start off the day. Thank you all for weighing in!
Greg
Couldn’t agree more with your statement about 60 Minutes being the go to place when the FED needs to send a message. They also did a fluff peice on Ken Lewis back in the fall of 2008. It seems just about every news organization can be bought off these days. We even have one news outfit that says “we report you decide” after their news is presented… What’s that mean, that we are supposed to decide how much of it is true?
It seems many of the news organizations have learned from the pathological liars of the world and realize if you present a little bit of truth with a big lie, its really confusing to those who are the recipients of such info (propaganda).
It’s sort of like those cartoon scenes where there’s little devil figures sitting on each shoulder whispering in your ear, “believe me” while the other one says, “no, believe me”… both inferring they would never decieve you…
Sometimes it appears the biggest culprits are the major media outlets that act as the enablers for all the deliberate disinformation the public is recieving. It makes one wonder just what does the end of the game look like?
One of Bernanke’s first speeches as a Board of Governor of the Federal Reserve System was “Deflation: Making Sure it Doesn’t Happen Here,” This has been referred to as the Bernanke Doctrine.
Greg
I haven’t watched 60 minutes since the late 1970’s for just the reasons you put forth here. They, and the other “investigative ” journalism programs are government videos. Too many times the stories have proven to be distorted or just untrue.
The Bernanke interview proves, to me, just how desperate and fearful the government is becoming. Usually fear breeds violence, so we need to be very careful at this point. How can anyone read the above comments without wonder? The tone implies dictatorial financial power on a scale unimaginable in our nation.
There will have been many viewers who felt reassured after that program. I am certain there are more lullabys of this sort scheduled for prime time.
Thanks Greg–good article.
markm
“We needed to intervene to prevent a global depression”. Translation. We need to artificially prop up the housing market because we don’t want people sending the keys back to the banks by the truckload.
“I am 100% certain inflation will not occur.” Translation. We are certain that house values will not go up. We are just trying to prevent them from going down further to help our bank buddies. We could care less if the cost of food and gas doubles since we conveniently don’t count it in our numbers. Haha.
“What we are doing is not printing money.” Translation. Silly stupid people, we don’t print anything anymore. We add a couple of zeros to the account via our shiny new computer. Printing is so old school.
Stephen
LOL- I love your translations Stephen.
Mr. Bernanke, I take you up on your 100% gaurantee. Please place an order for a $500 million deriviative that pays quadruple the rate of inflation. Of course I would like to utilize the “fed window” and borrow the money at 0% interest.
Greg, just goes to prove that the only way to get rid of these criminals is the failure of the dollar and the fed. The politicians and MSM have proven time and again, just like last night, that they are complicit in the fraud. CRASH JP MORGAN, BUY SILVER!!!!!!
Well, yea, as always, just more national media sugar coating the news. Ever since almost forever, especially since the President decided to run for office, the national media has been a secret voice of disinformation and or “look the other way” with regards to the executive branch and its government policies. The media has given this administration a “by” on the economy, the war, wikileaks, whatever. I can’t figure it out when the media changed roles, seems to have been done in my lifetime, as I have reviewed some articles from the Hoover days. Greg, you just can’t shame 60 minutes into journalism 101, but wait till a Ron Paul or a non-darling gets a term, then watch them go 180 degrees to the other side and commence reporting fiction. In short, 60 minutes is a drop in the bucket to the other national media and their reporting of the economy as always getting better, recovery underway and a chicken in every pot this Christmas. North Korea, Iran, oil futures up, gold up, employment rising, wages & hours down, trade deficit imbalance, two actual wars,
mortgage crisis, foreclosures, credit crunch, commercial property values downward, cotton futures up, basic commodities way up, Ireland bailout, Spain in trouble, Greece in trouble and others, dollar falling, police and other essential services layoffs, state govenments including California (8th largest economy in the world) broke, 18 percent health care cost rising per year; do I need to go on? Look, this thing is becoming a total disaster and to even start to fix it we must have the media do its traditional role of bringing these facts to light. Without honest media alerting the American people this thing called the American dream will slip into history without a fight; now that, my friends, is shameful.
Greg,
I am speechless… (no, I am not)…it is and always has been our gov’t position to use the media (which best suits their views) and to best promote their agenda (What the gov’t wants us to believe)..another great article from the USAWatchdog
“keep the gov’t looking over their shoulder – Greg is watching”
Best regards to you and your Readers.
Dr. Neal J. Houston
I totally agree with you. But any manipulation of this magnitude must be stopped by all men of judgement and influence.
What are you doing about it?
Thank you, Mr. Hunter. I enjoyed your comments very much. I was just about getting ill watching portions of that 60 minutes interview that I was exposed to while clicking the remote to minimize it. Until the Facebook interview was aired, I was switching between that and other channels to minimize my exposure to that, great, wise man,[tongue-in-cheek], who is implementing policies that are going to totally screw up this generation and the next several behind us. I hope millions did like me. That is, did all in their power to tuned out the Mr. Bernanke interview, yet, still catch the entertaining Facebook interview. Keep up the candid, honest commentary…Thank you.
Thank You Ken.
Greg
My wife went shopping recently and when she got home I asked her if she didn’t think she had spent too much money.
Her response was “I didn’t spend any money, I used my credit card.”
Could she get a job with the Federal Reserve making big bucks?
Bryan,
You are funny. Actually she did not spend money she created currency in the form of a loan that the banks charge interest for. What a racket!! I want in on the free money creation deal the Fed and banks have!!
Thank you for sharing your story here!
Greg
Great article! Maybe you should have entitled it:
“60 Minutes: The pit-bull plays the prom queen for the Fed”.
They usually “go after the juggler”, but this was embarrassing journalism.
But I guess it was cheaper than making an advertising commercial for the Ben Bernank and having to pay fees to show it during 60 Minutes.
Patrick,
That was a low point for 60 that is for sure. I like your title. It is spot on!
Greg
HI Greg, I am sure that you know that the FED expects four million foreclosures next year but that could be low. Economic conditions will change as inflation grows in the energy and commodities sectors of the economy hitting millions of Americans where it hurts the most.
I expect to local governments who need property taxes to survive to face extreme pressure as values are reset. Here in Franklin County, VA my mothers house tax assessed now at $550K but when she tried to sell in the spring of 2010 but the house would only bring $325K losing significant value. The new apprasials which are done every four years and kick in 2011 will leave our county short tax dollars. And to beat it all there was nothing we could do to get the apprasial lowered or changed when the market crashed and if we don’t like the new apprasial we have to appeal it to the Circut Court judge.
Is that the reason FED/government is proping up housing prices to prevent a wave swamping the LOCAL economy; prevent homeowners from being underwater; a crash in local property taxes and further devaluation of housing market?
TAX CUTS were discussed as you weighed in on WZTK this morning. Hell we can’t afford any tax cuts for anybody …
WHAT THE HELL????
MOOCHERS WITH MOOOONEY!!!!
Good stuff Mitch. I know the housing market will get much worse before it gets better. Thank you.
Greg
The ‘Media’ isn’t ‘sugarcoating’ anything…
What IS sugarcoated is the minds of roughly 2/3 of Americans who still think the ‘media’ are independent of guvernment.
Also, because these 2/3+ of Americans have never lived through, nor have even a rudimentary knowledge of what can happen to a society when corruption fuses guvernment with business and co-opts the ‘independent’ arm of that ‘free’ society in the process, to do it’s ‘marketing’ – i.e., Propaganda.
Americans have squandered their Liberty – by becoming fat & lazy – in more ways than one. Now they are about to pay the price for that laziness.
Americans would be wise not to fuss about so much over their finances, but to think long & hard about what it will mean to be housed inside an internment camp for those who speak out against guvernment policies in the future, because that invisible (to those who cannot see) Reality is at Their Door –
Thank you Agent P, Jan and DDT.
Greg
C= corpoate B= Bull S – fill in the blank. A softball game at best.
Of course, the MSM will throw soft balls to The Bernank (AKA BEnron).
But would they even know how to hard ball the guy? I think the Fed has been putting out so much disinformation for so long, and cultivated an aura of mystique, the MSM is intimidated and has never had the courage to probe beneath the propaganda. “Hey, that’s really esoteric stuff like particle physics, journalists don’t really need to know that.”
But when involves the destruction of Western Civilization its not all that esoteric anymore. Every American has to get his head around Fractional Reserve Banking, and the way it has been corrupted, and how many dollar denominated claims have been created world wide. Because this will KILL us and we must make the herculean effort with a massive and informed consensus, to reform the system.
All we need to know about major media is how they beat the war drums for the wars and that tells the whole story. If the talking heads are willing to kill the kids over worthless wars,nothing more needs to be said. peace
Good point Bob.
Greg
Yes, thank you. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!! I didn’t see 60 Mins, but I heard he said they were “not printing” money. My favorite Bernanke stupidity quote is the one about things being “contained.” How many times do we have to tolerate government stupidity. Yay for Greg Hunter!
Thank you Joanne, Concerned Citizen and Dan for the comments and kind words. Concerned Citizen, post as long a comment as you like.
Greg
Ron Paul will ask the hard questions and I can only hope this year 2011 we can put bernanke in jail…
That is if Paul is given the House Financial Services Domestic Policy and Technology Subcommittee chair he has earned (and deserves). New house speaker Rep. John Boehner reportedly is working on bypassing Paul as the chair.
Keep an eye out- the republicans probably despise Paul more than the dems do.
Hello Greg
This is such a needed service. That is, to expose the media fraud and propaganda spin, the brainwashing, the deliberate misrepresentation of the “facts”…and hold them accountable. As someone asked above, “What are you doing about it?” This is exactly the thing to do. Just as you are doing now. Thank you Greg! FYI Germans I know personally—several of them, both in the USA and in Germany—-have commented that the propaganda machine and sociodynamics here in post-911 USA exactly resemble those prior to the rise of the Nazis to power. Or shall I say , during their rise. What you are doing becomes all the more important. BRAVO!!!!
Maybe we all—-your readers, that is—-should write open letters to 60 Minutes and other media outlets? Just an idea, for those who are “game”.
Ditto as regards open letters to the TSA, to revisit another topic that you wrote so well about?
Thank you Concerned Citizen for all your support and comments.
Greg
This is nothing new. Command and contain. We should be asking “Who controls the MEDIA?” When major news outlets refuse to put information on the air or in writing because it does not benefit their personal cause, investigated reporting is DEAD! Whatever the damn excuse is, it should not be allowed to squander the story. There is no more FREE Press. Joseph Goebells should be smiling in his grave. What is that Aussie word? Wankers. All of them. Why do I have to go to foreign papers to get any news on global events. Least this site puts it out there for all to read.
Better get our skat together or we will be all be saying,
SEIG HEIL!
Slingshot and Doug,
You are both correct. Investigative reporting, at least at the networks, is dead. That makes me very sad. thank you for your comment.
Greg
Greg,
Should anyone be surprised by these recurring examples of toothless “journalism”? Can you name even one mainstream media outlet that isn’t completely biased and little more than a propaganda machine for the interests of those parties who control it?
Regards,
Doug P.
Did you see Bernanke’s lip quivering, or hear his voice quavering?
When he said, “The money supply has not increased,” or something to
that effect, I yelled out, “That’s a lie!”. My poor, MSM believing
wife, said, “Why, who said?” (M3 is WAY up!). People have no clue…
Yes I did Max. I did not want to bring it up because I did not want my article look like a personal attack on Bernanke. Yes he appeared very very nervous during parts of the interview. Thank you very much for pointing this out.
Greg
Interesting and good article. The Fed will always paint the Market in a positive light, they’re essentially salesman.
I was at work and listened to the interview on radio.
It was absolutely appalling.
It was like listening to a murder perp on The First 48…..
Lie heaped upon lie.
Bob,
To me Bob this is actually a tip-off that the Fed is desperate and something very bad is coming and soon. I do not know what that bad thing is but when it happens we will know itI said it before, CBS should be ashamed. What they (60) did last night was not journalism but government propaganda! Thank you for your comment.
Greg
Greg, the ‘bad’ thing that’s coming is reality.
Signalfire,
Ugly reality.
Greg
Bond Collapse? Two days and you’re prescient. Carnac’s got nothin’ on you Greg! lol
Greg,
If body language is a good indicator, it is a tie over which of the two was more nervous about disseminating false information: Ben Bernanke’s facial twitches were evident throughout the interview and Scott Pelly couldn’t stop his spasmodic foot from gesticulating. Though a blatant lie, Ben Bernanke continually implied that the Federal Reserve formulates policies with the best interests of the American economy & consumers in mind. The FRB is a corporate concern looking out for their best interests. I am not against capitalism: it serves our country well. But due in part to the name “Federal Reserve” Bank (commonly referred to as the “Feds”), their propaganda and media spin from sources like 60 Min, the Feds are promoted as a benign “government” institution. Many people don’t even realize that they’re a privately held bank.
Bernanke – Read my lips… or rather my body language!
Lorna,
Thank you for adding to this post!!
Greg
Two words came to mind after seeing Bernanke on 60 Minutes last night.
“Got gold?
Well, by Bernanke’s estimation, Lord Bankfiend ™ must be super educated! I had no idea! The guy’s making 70 million a year, so this translates into dozens of astrophysics degrees, right?
Wow, if Bennie-Boy is right, I think the dozens of 20-somethings I know with degrees and massive student loan debt but no jobs would like to have a talk with him. You know, just to learn where they went wrong. People with 4 year degrees have only a 5% unemployment rate? What the hell?
I won’t even go into the rest of this asinine interview. He’s been wrong dozens of times about the near future, but he’s “100% confident” NOW he’s doing the right thing???? He’s deluded and arrogant about his delusions. We’re totally f*$ked with this guy in control. GGGAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
How much more proof do you need, before you will realize that the economic effects of the Federal Reserve are intentional?
I watched the interview. I couldn’t decide if Bernanke is actually delsional or just a very, very bad money manager. When he talked about, “not just printing money…and not causing inflation.” I decided, he couldn’t say this with a straight face unless he really was delusional. This man lives in a world, far, far away.
What can we expect from our leaders anymore:
Lie’s and un-truth’s
Propaganda from the media
Bernanke is just another cheerleader, Everything is good, spend more money/dept buy stocks
Fractional banking fractional gold&silver markets
All markets are now rigged including stock market, banking, housing, gold/silver markets etc..
Congress is just for show now no body reads signed bills that go into law, (then who writes them?) (they would rather focus on salt,happy meals,steroid use)
Churches sold out to the IRS, (my Church just told the congregation of 3,500 that “The Government has Authority over us”)
Inflation/Deflation we have both, just in different markets
Elitist/State-ists are “above the law”
We now live in a “Fallen Republic”
Oklahoma , has lawsuits against NOT allowing Sharia law!
Hell DHS think returning solders, Christians, pro-life, and any one who thinks “illegal” Immigration is against the law.
Here in Arizona, one of the last free states, the Federal Government is suing its citizens!
Only GOD can saver us Now!
scott_free, legislation is most often written by the industry lobbyists, then massaged by the office staff’s of the politicians based on the committee’s they are on… our elected reps are nothing but cheerleaders for the industries they represent…Both parties sold out the peoples interest for corporate dollars towards their election campaigns…
News media? There is no news media, just advertising media. The networks sell advertising time. That is their money stream: period.
Research costs money. A FED talking head costs very little. Networks give politicians free air time to convince us that we need ______ (fill in the blank). Why pay for news if you can get talk for free?
Now couple the socio-economic melt-down with public perception and we raise the specter of mass fear. Does anyone expect the magicians to feed the fear or starve the fear. When the populace fears, the potential for long-term damage increases exponentially. Never underestimate the actions of scared people in large groups.
News media is only selling ad space and by trotting out talking heads, maintaining profit margins and keeping their advertisers happy. Scared people don’t but a new gaming console or HDTV. It is all about containing and controlling public perceptions about our financial woes.
CBS isn’t alone. Just watch a day’s worth of CNBC. Just remember the new mantra: “Every problem provides economic opportunity”. As long as the general public believes it, we stand a chance of a smoother transition to the new and improved depression. Once we are all broke, we are easily contained.
What I saw in Helicopter Ben’s body language was akin to that Lying bastardo Hank Paulson, on the eve of the FIRST bailout (under Bush the Younger).
His lower lip was quivering, his eyes were red and puffy, his speech patterns had a detectable breakup in his voice…I’m surprised he didn’t start CRYING…If ‘body language’ was any indicator, not only was he LYING, but he KNEW IT!
Greg, wow, what comments on your article, hats off to all of the posts. Bernanke knows his game is up, people are catching on, the cat is out of the bag, he and his pals have no more tricks up their sleeves to lay on us. Let me predict he will be packing his bags, stuffed with money I assume, and getting out of dodge while the getting is good. Greg, guess who will be left holding the “emply” bags?
Thank you Art. I think Mr. Bernanke looks very nervous.
Greg
Greg, have just read yr post from down here in New Zealand. Saw snippets on our news. What absolute rubbish Bernanke spoke!! I feel so helpless so have joined the “buy silver sink JPMorgan” campaign.
Paul Martin,
You are a smart man! Thank you.
Greg
Sixty Minutes is long out of date. They have to rely on Viagra and the NFL (who pays them to delay their broadcasts) to survive. Now they will do anything, including free press for the administration…to exist.
It’s really quite angering, Ben lied point blank on a good many things, this one though got under my skin. “One myth that’s out there is that what we’re doing is printing money. We’re not printing money. The amount of currency in circulation is not changing.”
Complete BS, the Currency in Circulation chart clearly shows the monetized debt is finding its way back into circulation and therefore is causing prices to rise.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/WCURCIR?cid=32215
The FED’s own stated goals in launching QE2 were to trigger a “wealth effect” and boost inflation in September. Which FED should we believe the FED two months ago or the FED today? the FEDs adjusted monetary base still just blows my mind. It starts in 1918 and passes through the great depression, WWII and all else, we have printed more dollars in the last 2 years than all the prior years since we first started printing dollars in our countries 234 year history.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/AMBNS?cid=124
Lastly the money multiplier chart shows that the velocity of money has been dying off since the mid 1980’s and seriously since the crash of 2008.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/MULT?cid=25
How are we going to pay down our debt when base money supply is 2 trillion and velocity of money is going down? Obviously we are not. House prices where the crash occurred are not just down by 50%, here in Las Vegas a good number are down almost 70%! True inflation no matter what Ben says is the expansion of the currency supply and rising prices are the symptom of it. Not surprisingly food, energy, and other costs are going up. Wait until between March and July when futures prices catch up to the store shelves.
I’m so thoroughly disgusted with Capitol Hill, I say we valuate the FED members and our politicians then ship them off to our creditors for final payment and be done with it.
[QUOTE] … then ship them off to our creditors for
final payment and be done with it. [un-QUOTE]
V/R,
what makes you think China, Japan, & the UK would take them?
Greg,
ask this guy to ghost write articles for you when you’re on vacation.
JUDGE : Did you hang all those men?
Defendant : Yessir.
JUDGE : Why?
Defendant : Have you seen the price of bullets lately?
JUDGE : Case dismissed.
Thanks. Another excellent article telling it how it is.
Unfortunately all too often media interviewers fail to ask the most obvious questions so we get more and more soft interviews. I am sure in most cases it is entirely deliberate and planned (such as in the 60 minutes program) but in others it is the ignorance and/or incompetence of the interviewer.
Then of course you have the many media organizations who are too afraid to ask tough and challenging questions, or to run critical stories, because they know if they do that doors will be shut in their face and information supply blocked to them. This is a powerful censorship tool which is used ruthlessly by those in power.
I’m certain the FED and banking fraternity believe that they can con the majority with their spin because it is quite amazing how most people continue to take everything in the mainstream media on face value.
I’m also sure Mr Bernanke is working on the basis that if you say something often enough, and the uncritical media run with it every time as they tend to do, it will soon be taken for fact.
Thank you again and please keep your analytical journalism going.
Thank you Sean for the kind words!
Greg
A site I read mentioned they watched the interview last night too. He asked is anyone elses was scared. Yes, I believe any thinking person is scared this whole mess is going to crush all of us.
Then I went to my next site and this is very scary as well. The entire world economy is on the brink. It just all seems so orchastrated. Controlled collaspe?
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-06T11%3A15%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=3
I told a friend yesterday that Bernanke’s interview will come back to haunt him but in the nearer term, I am now convinced that Obama will not be re-elected and for that, some of the blame will fall on Bernanke.
Can someone help explain this to me please:
So, government debt is a traded instrument. However, debt carries risk and so, if as an investor, I decide to buy your debt, in order to protect myself against risk, I will naturally demand higher interest rates (like loaning money to someone with poor credit).
So, because foreigners would demand higher interest rates, the fed is forced to buy it’s own debt with money it creates out of thin air? Is this correct? & then, what does it do with this newly purchased debt? I’m a bit confused.
Also, since China, Saudi Arabia and other countries still own some debt and aren’t getting high interest rates for it…what are they going to do about it? i.e. at what point will these countries say demand higher interest rates? or will they just ask to get paid back? I don’t understand why China is going to allow Bernanke to screw them up. Can you please explain this to me? Why would you let someone screw you?
Bernanke is not making sense to me.
Greg said:
“To me Bob, this is actually a tip-off that the Fed is desperate and something very bad is coming and soon. I do not know what that bad thing is but when it happens we will know itI”
Really? it sounded to me like Bernanke was underestimating the average intelligence of Americans. The problem however is that unlike the Iraq war (which most Americans didn’t fight in) the economy deals with money, which everyone uses and you can’t fib about that because it’s the real deal.
You can lie about war, but you can’t do that with the economy.
when him or his cohorts say “we’re not printing money”, he’s right. He’s really issuing currency. we say “printing money” for clarity. the follow up question should’ve been, ‘how are you buying all of these “toxic assets”?’
it’s amazing that the 60-minutes which I have not watched for over decade now, notices the wikileak stuff but somehow misses the unconstitutional money, 9/11 material, Kennedy assassination facts, etc. indication that the wikileak is really their own project.
Ahh, The banking cartel that is fronted by the Federal Reserve facade owns CBS News, no differently than it owns every debtslave that pays federal taxes to pay the interest on their bonds.
In an evil, in-your-face, kind of way Bernanke is right. The “bank credit” created by the Fed out of thin air never sees the monetary supply. It gets handed over to the treasury in exchange for more bonds. A big chunk of that bank credit gets cycled back to the Fed to pay the massive interest rate bill on the already existing debt, some goes to prop up balanace sheets of government owned bad banks, a big chunk goes to defense contractors who are owned for the most part by who else, the same bankers who are the senior bond holders. This bank credit feed and its recyle loop are necessary to keep the big monentary machine running, milking the real value out of the tax payer. Yes the tax payers debt will go to infinity, and of course he will never be able to pay it off, but remember ” x percent (i) of infinity (P) also equates to infinity. The senior bond holders are happy regardless.
Keep spinnin the hamster wheel.
CBS has a long history of liberal bias journalism. Back over 30 years ago David Martin did a piece on how easy it was to convert a semi-auto ak-47 over to full automatic. He went to a gunshop to have the conversion done and the gunsmith told him that it was a federal felony to do so and he wanted no part of it. Martin then found an individual who would be willing to do it if his face wasn’t shown on the air. Martin then held up the gun but didn’t try to fire it and claimed that the conversion took only a short time. Hundreds of gun owners saw that episode on TV and contacted the BATF saying “Hey! CBS just committed a felony.” “Do your jobs and arrest them.” The BATF siezed the uncut footage and had their expert in conversions look at it and the gun. They found the conversion would not have worked and that Martin was lying about it.
Greg,
I really enjoyed your article. I am fearful for our once great nation. My friends and relatives kid me about my “tin foil hat” that I wear with pride. I beg them to prepare for the ramifications of the actions of the Fed. Our dollars are no longer confined to our borders and those dollars that InkjetBen isn’t printing will find their way around the world and back again, raising prices on everything they touch along the way. Inflating the money supply is the most insidious form of taxation possible. I came across your article via Goldsilver.com and will be adding your RSS to my reading list. Thanks for the well written piece.
Thank you NCdirtdigger.
Greg
who is going to bail the american tax payer out after we have been robbed by the Fed and Congress? NO ONE. Truman said, “The buck stops here”. today our buck stops everywhere but with the working man/woman.
These Comments are excellent. I have known Cong. Ron Paul as a friend since 1976 when he was 1st elected, and I was the Special Counsel to the Chairman of the US Senate Commerce Committee. He has led the way. As do many of you do now.
I attended the 1st Gold Commission meeting at the Treasury Dept. with Ron Paul in 1981, after I greatly helped Ron Reagan get elected, & I then was Chief AL Judge of the US DOI in 1982-3 for Reagan. We went 5 hours without food or a bathroom break at that meeting. And when I finally went to the mens room, who should also be there but Don Reagan, the Treasury Secretary & the former Chairman of Merrill Lynch. One idea which I brought to Don’s attention then, in the “head” as we U.S. Marines call it, was that the US WAS already bankrupt. And that THE smart and rational thing to do was to ACKNOWLEDGE that FACT in public & to declare a formal bankruptcy. Pay NO MORE debt or interest on the debt. Start over with a clean slate, and folks would FLOOD us with new cxash. (Bankruptcy is a Constitutional right for individuals because the Founders were often debtors themselves & they abhored debtors’ prison.) Don did not implement my idea, as we know, for the obvious BAD “reasons” which still enslave them, and things have ONLY gotten MUCH WORSE BECAUSE he/they have not declared bankruptcy (or cut programs & spending & taxes more). Better that it be voluntary, not involuntary.
J.D. Thank you for your insight on this. So will we finall.y declare bankruptcy now?
Greg
Let’s not forget about his outlandish statement that the buying of treasury bonds “does not add to the deficit or debt”.
Well sure, if you hold it off balance sheet, then no it doesnt add.
That is as foolish as the derelict gambler promising his wife that his loan shark 30% interest loans are not adding one penny to their American Express bill!
come on america…..
fight for your freedom…!!!
later we in eu must do the same..!!
I send light to all good people in us..!!
my english is not very well…but i hope you
undestand…you try to write in danish…smilling…
Benny, Your country is heading back toward true freedom. We are fighting but our corrupt pols are sending us away from freedom. Peace and happy Holiday
Excellent rant, Greg. The Federal Reserve system became nothing but a counterfeiting operation for Wall Street the very day Clinton put Rubin in the Treasury post. We’ve had Wall Street running the U.S. Treasury for the better part of the last seventeen years. That’s enough to ruin any country.
Thank you Tom!
Greg
What did Ben’s childhood home look like?
We should make Bernanke take a lie detector test.
Greg:
You said in one of the earlier comments that you suspected that something very bad was on it’s way. what exactly?
nm,
I don’t know but “something wicked this way comes.”
Greg
So much for the “watchdogs of democracy.” Today, the news media is little more than an echo chamber for the government. Individual politicians may be scrutinized, but over all, government policy never gets questioned.
Ken
Greg,
You seem surprised to find out that 60 Minutes is nothing more than a propaganda outlet for the left. Hmmmm, It makes me wonder about you…….
Ed,
Please read the rest of the site.
Greg
Here is what one of our great founding fathers said about banks such as the Federal Reserve – I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever let private banks to control the issue of their currency,first by inflation,then by deflation,the banks and corporations that will grow up around (the banks) will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people,to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson
Can we be blunt and honest here? The crooks are running the show and have been for 100 years. They’ve gotten filthy rich, having cleverly stolen the entire treasury of the United States, which they’ve used over the past century to purchase the media and the government. Until the people revolt, the criminal cabal will continue to victimize the public and drain our life force. Obama, Bernanke, and the like are just puppets performing for their supper in their deal with the devil. The truth is in front of our eyes despite their constant lies. Our survival depends on destroying them, and their survival depends on bleeding us. This is the parasitic nature of the situation. We are infected, growing weaker and weaker, while the parasites soothe us with the words we want to hear. We have to quit listening and take steps to eliminate the vermin from our bodies while we still have the strength to move. Otherwise, we slip into listless paralysis and become a permanent food trough for a den of powerful tapeworms.
I think we should start calling Bernanke, Bullion Ben! Every time he opens his pie hole, the value of our bullion goes up and up!!!!!!!!!!
Bullion Ben it is!!! Thanks.
Greg
Greg, can you walk me through the cash flows of when we purchase our own treasuries? We send electronic cash to third party sellers who are dumping treasuries, that part I can grasp. But when we buy our own issues, how does the cash get into the markets? The cash goes into the federal reserve, right, but how does it get into the markets from there to create inflation? The banks would have to borrow from the fed and loan it out, right?
Jstaib,
The cash actually electronically goes to the Treasury, and that is partially funding the U.S. for the next 8 months. The Fed is also buying (liquefying) more mortgage backed securities. That money goes directly to the banks. The banks can also borrow money at basically 0% and yes they can loan that money out. Bernanke says the banks are not loaning as much money as they can because there is a lot less loan demand. The banks are sitting on a lot of cash and the banks are acting more like hedge fund speculators than lenders. I hope that answers your question.
Greg