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Economists against Fed
- Thread starter ASusilovic
- Start date
Quote from olias:
all I hear is bitching about QE2. Bitching about QE2 has become the IN thing to do
That's because you are an inflationista douchebag. Part of the crowd of asshats around here who think we should just permanently "QE" no matter the consequences.
I also happen to notice that all of these QE fuckwits write with what I consider some form of broken English, which makes me believe they are probably not even residents of the ole US of A.
Quote from piezoe:
the Fed policy may be wrong, but i'd much rather have the Fed making monetary policy than the U.S. congress.
With the Fed's Greenspan/Bernanke track record, it is hard to think of a pair of people who have done more to destroy US wealth than these two. I don't buy your argument.
Quote from sprstpd:
With the Fed's Greenspan/Bernanke track record, it is hard to think of a pair of people who have done more to destroy US wealth than these two. I don't buy your argument.
+1 on Greenspan, the jury is still out on Bernanke. Nothing the Fed does is instantaneous, takes 2 - 6 years to pan out.
Until Congress does something about the fiscal imbalances, both budgetary and trade, the Fed isn't going to have much choice but to do what it's doing.
Yes, in principle it could stop "debasement", but that would immediately trigger an enormous fiscal problem, and the likes of Ron Paul would be the first to the podium to denounce the Fed for impeding the wishes of voters.
The ball is - and always has been - in the hands of the elected officials. The Fed is quite powerless in all this.
Yes, in principle it could stop "debasement", but that would immediately trigger an enormous fiscal problem, and the likes of Ron Paul would be the first to the podium to denounce the Fed for impeding the wishes of voters.
The ball is - and always has been - in the hands of the elected officials. The Fed is quite powerless in all this.
As I write this, let me make it clear that I am neither pro nor con the Fed or Bernanke. And I do hope to learn something via this discussion. But I am pretty sure that the Fed has access to statistical metrics that most people do not.
So let me pose this question to all of the detractors of QE - where is this inflation you are so worried about?
Each day, as I look around at prices on simple items, I still see DEFLATION and lack of pricing power:
*pizza prices being nationally lowered, you can now get 2 mediums for under $10 - this is at least 35% lower than it used to be - and I just saw a TV commercial for 3 mediums for $9.99 (lower-end brand)
*home improvement items, furniture, barbeque units, etc. getting slashed to all time lows - the barbeques outside my local Lowes are 1/2 of what they cost just a couple years ago.
*fast food coupons for ridiculously low prices. my friend and I just went to a local taco chain and had two full-size adult male meals worth of food for a total of $3.75 including tax. We used several 2-for-1 coupons and they gladly took them all at once, not limiting us to only one per visit. This has to be pretty close to cost or below cost, according to this same friend who is a longtime restraunt owner. We were both stunned.
*housing values still sliding
*high-end steakhouses lowering menu prices
*business bids so low that employers cannot afford to staff up for jobs, unemployment is still shit
*commodity prices (except the ever-emotional gold) have been somewhat stable, look at wholesale gas/oil/food prices - yet retail prices continue to drop in most areas
The point is, if you are in the middle of massive deflation, what is the worry about inflation? You need some inflationary actions just to stop the slide.... what else is there to do?
So let me pose this question to all of the detractors of QE - where is this inflation you are so worried about?
Each day, as I look around at prices on simple items, I still see DEFLATION and lack of pricing power:
*pizza prices being nationally lowered, you can now get 2 mediums for under $10 - this is at least 35% lower than it used to be - and I just saw a TV commercial for 3 mediums for $9.99 (lower-end brand)
*home improvement items, furniture, barbeque units, etc. getting slashed to all time lows - the barbeques outside my local Lowes are 1/2 of what they cost just a couple years ago.
*fast food coupons for ridiculously low prices. my friend and I just went to a local taco chain and had two full-size adult male meals worth of food for a total of $3.75 including tax. We used several 2-for-1 coupons and they gladly took them all at once, not limiting us to only one per visit. This has to be pretty close to cost or below cost, according to this same friend who is a longtime restraunt owner. We were both stunned.
*housing values still sliding
*high-end steakhouses lowering menu prices
*business bids so low that employers cannot afford to staff up for jobs, unemployment is still shit
*commodity prices (except the ever-emotional gold) have been somewhat stable, look at wholesale gas/oil/food prices - yet retail prices continue to drop in most areas
The point is, if you are in the middle of massive deflation, what is the worry about inflation? You need some inflationary actions just to stop the slide.... what else is there to do?
Quote from sprstpd:
Where I live, I see no deflation at all except for housing. Food costs are up. Health care cost is up. Gas is up.
When the CPI comes out it always makes me laugh. It is a complete farce.
I do concede that my State may be worse than some others. But prices here are definitely dropping on most items.
Quote from sprstpd:
With the Fed's Greenspan/Bernanke track record, it is hard to think of a pair of people who have done more to destroy US wealth than these two. I don't buy your argument.
Perhaps your right. I think Greenspan, in retrospect was a true disaster. I'm not certain about Bernanke yet, I'm sort of of the mind that perhaps things are so bad that there is no alternative. How do we service the debt and pay expenses and at the same time cut government revenue as we have done unless we do one of two things: 1. drastically cut back all government budgets including defense, and layoff even more while cutting unemployment compensation, or 2. buy some time by printing a little extra money and use it to pay our creditors while we try to figure out what to do next..
Quote from slapshot:
As I write this, let me make it clear that I am neither pro nor con the Fed or Bernanke. And I do hope to learn something via this discussion. But I am pretty sure that the Fed has access to statistical metrics that most people do not.
So let me pose this question to all of the detractors of QE - where is this inflation you are so worried about?
Each day, as I look around at prices on simple items, I still see DEFLATION and lack of pricing power:
*pizza prices being nationally lowered, you can now get 2 mediums for under $10 - this is at least 35% lower than it used to be - and I just saw a TV commercial for 3 mediums for $9.99 (lower-end brand)
*home improvement items, furniture, barbeque units, etc. getting slashed to all time lows - the barbeques outside my local Lowes are 1/2 of what they cost just a couple years ago.
*fast food coupons for ridiculously low prices. my friend and I just went to a local taco chain and had two full-size adult male meals worth of food for a total of $3.75 including tax. We used several 2-for-1 coupons and they gladly took them all at once, not limiting us to only one per visit. This has to be pretty close to cost or below cost, according to this same friend who is a longtime restraunt owner. We were both stunned.
*housing values still sliding
*high-end steakhouses lowering menu prices
*business bids so low that employers cannot afford to staff up for jobs, unemployment is still shit
*commodity prices (except the ever-emotional gold) have been somewhat stable, look at wholesale gas/oil/food prices - yet retail prices continue to drop in most areas
The point is, if you are in the middle of massive deflation, what is the worry about inflation? You need some inflationary actions just to stop the slide.... what else is there to do?
Agri and most other commodities up. Services up. insurance up, drugs and medical care up (as usual), groceries up. Basically anything traded in dollars internationally is up and anything without competition or controlled by a cartel (medical care) is up. But nat. gas (surprisingly, I wonder how long that can last, all the storage facilities must be full to the brim) , trophy houses, chain restaurant prices and fancy barbeques down. So it's a very mixed picture, leading to low inflation overall at the moment.. If you believe the official government figure, or moderately high inflation overall if you trust the shadowstats figure. Take your pick.