Bernanke a genius?

[Kicking]

Quote from gnome:

I'm sure no one recalls... but when Bernanke was considered the front-runner for the job, I suggested we all "hide our women and children"...

Playing out much as I'd feared... (heavy sigh)

Yeah I recall reading that post . You said he was going to ruin the US. How did you know ?

 

[Landis82]

Quote from gnome:

Much of the commodity group's rise was due to Bernanke's running the money-pump at full tilt. Had he and other central banks not done that, there would have been no commodity spike... IMO.

I think that the data out there would support the view that China ( as well as the emerging markets ) has had a HUGE impact on commodity prices, but for some reason the Bernanke "bashers" conveniently wish to ignore that.

Go figure.

 

[Landis82]

Quote from Illum:

Bernake and company are the reason we did not enter a depression.

Quote from Ivanovich:

You make it sound like the Fed saved the country from it's foolishness, but in reality it was the Fed that got us into this situation in the first place by keeping rates too low for too long!

His comment was regarding Bernanke ( and you know that ), not about the FED under Alan Greenspan.

 

[Landis82]

Quote from makloda:

So commodities rise when the money-pump runs at full tilt, and they fall when the Fed slows down the money printing machine. My God, the simplicity of this theory is striking I wonder why not everybody embraces it.

I had no idea supply (weather, crop failures, amount of drilling & reserves, mining exploration, geo-politics) & demand (global consumer demand, economic growth, emerging markets) do not matter WHATSOEVER!

Agreed.

I'm always amazed at the economic arguments here on ET. So naively simplistic, with absolutely no consideration of anything else but the value of the dollar.

 

[Landis82]

Quote from Ivanovich:

I would consider Bernanke a genius if he had let us have a recession and curbed inflation - saving the value of my dollar and preventing a massive rise in commodities.

Oh, I see.

There would have ONLY been a Recession had Bernanke not increased liquidity in the financial system. ONLY a Recession, not a Depression.

How simplistic, especially with all of that "blown-up" debt in the system and banks unable to make loans off of healthy collateral.

ONLY a Recession.
Not a Depression.

And you know this because???

 

[Cutten]

Quote from gnome:

You apparently don't understand the impact of the "money-pump"...

1. It TRUMPS ALMOST EVERYTHING...

2. It has BROUGHT DOWN COUNTRIES AND CIVILIZATION since the Romans!!

The Gummint/Fed does it "under our noses", and when we question them, they say... "it's for our own good".... Biggest lie since "the check is in the mail"...

Commodities soared in Euros, Yen, Swiss Francs etc too.

The money supply increased massively from 1980 to 2000 yet commodities cratered.

Note the huge rise and fall in commodity prices in the last few months, when Fed interest rates have remained totally unchanged.

Clearly the link between commodity prices and monetary policy is not as strong or direct as you claim. There is obviously some influence, but it is not the be all and end all.

 

[The Kin]

Quote from Landis82:

Oh, I see.

There would have ONLY been a Recession had Bernanke not increased liquidity in the financial system. ONLY a Recession, not a Depression.

How simplistic, especially with all of that "blown-up" debt in the system and banks unable to make loans off of healthy collateral.

ONLY a Recession.
Not a Depression.

And you know this because???

Could there be two schools of thought on the issue? I can't fault anything you're saying nor Ivan's response. Just a friendly observation.