by Jack Lee
It’s the greatest global political shift since 1932. Imagine, the Prime Minister of France has told the powerful trade unions to shove it and his government rose the retirement age. They’ve also made drastic cuts in other socialist government programs and cut a number of redundant government positions. Suddenly the French have seen the light, even though it took an ecominic meltdown to do it.
Across the Channel the Brits have decided they must lay off over 500,000 unnecessary government workers or go bankrupt. This is an unheard of number since the Great Depression. They’ve also made major cuts in others areas such as eliminating the weekly child care subsidy that began back in WWII. England is looking at ways to move away from costly socialist policies just like France. Even Communist Cuba says they will layoff 20% of the government work force in order to deal with their deficits.
In contrast to all this cutting Germany has been a standout when it comes to frugal money management. They have not bought into our bailouts and stimulus gimmicks, instead they’ve managed their economy far more sensibly prior too and during this recession. This has put them in a position of strength at a time when many nations around them struggle just to stay afloat.
So when you see the Germans criticize our President’s latest stimulus plan and his new love affair with big, expensive government programs, they do so with some credibility. But, its not just Germany being critical, its many other nations such as China, Brazil and South Africa, they have all recently criticized the U.S. plans to pump $600bn into the US economy.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the US policy was “clueless” and would create “extra problems for the world“.
“Critics, including some Fed officials, fear that all the money being injected into the economy could ignite inflation or speculative bubbles in the prices of bonds or commodities. Bernanke said those inflation fears are “overstated.” A larger $1.7 trillion program launched during the financial crisis didn’t result in higher inflation, he pointed out. When the economy is on firm footing, Bernanke expressed confidence that the Fed will be able to smoothly soak up all that money without harming the economy.” Source AP
Economic journalist Stuart Varney disagrees with Bernanke, “It’s inexplicable why they (Federal Reserve) want to keep throwing money at it.” Varney points out that interest rates are almost at zero now and its not helping because people are not working.
Paraphrasing Varney, “When you pump $600bn into the economy what you are in effect doing is buying up debt from banks with paper money. This has a direct impact on the money supply and just like any other commodity, if you have too much supply you lower the price. The dollar will fall and then we’re headed for inflation.” He is dumbfounded why the feds insist on continuing to pursue a policy that has produced no results.
President Obama is confident that we just haven’t spent enough on the stimulus yet. His experience as a community organizer tells him he’s on the right tract and that the economists disagreeing with him are simply ignorant fools. California legislators agree and they pride themselves in helping to improve the economy by hiring more state workers are salaries above the private sector. California is now our largest employer with over 320,000 state workers…and growing! We also have the largest deficit, but never mind that, we just need to hire more state workers.
Bernanke: “A larger $1.7 trillion program launched during the financial crisis didn’t result in higher inflation…”
Jack I have to disagree with this statement as a consumer. Inflation in the eye of the consumer may be different than the official definition but I have to say that the producers of goods and supermarkets and retailers are responding by cutting back and downsizing products. We certainly aren’t experiencing the abundance that followed Reagan’s economic policy! People have less disposable income and they have seen the value of their savingsa and homes go down.
Many economists say that the latest move by the fed will indeed devalue the dollar. What that means to this nonexpert is that the dollars in my pocket will be worth about $.50. I don’t want to think about what that will do to the job creators in this country who are trying to compete with other nations to sell goods.
As for your last paragraph…sarcasm never tasted so sweet!
Criticism is being leveled from within the World bank and the Fed as well:
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/553117/201011081910/World-To-Fed-Stop-Printing-All-That-Money.htm
Yes. As near as I can tell, the Tea Partiers only plan for economic stimulous will be to send several million public sector employees to join their private sector brethren … out of work.
Brilliant.
What really kills me is that, if you told the Tea Partiers that we had to spend shitloads of money we don’t have to wage war on Islam, they’d pee themselves with glee.
Obama wants to spend shitloads of money we ain’t got on roads and schools and healthcare, and you all are just hysterical with rage.
Go figure.
Libby I’ve got a free second, tell me all you know about the Tea Party and what they want to cut?
Libby: ” As near as I can tell, the Tea Partiers only plan for economic stimulous will be to send several million public sector employees to join their private sector brethren … out of work. Brilliant.”
Poor babies! Why shouldn’t they suffer through this mess with their fellow citizens? This isn’t, by the way, a plan for “economic stimulous”. It is a necessary outcome from the failed, so-called stimulus, that has been adopted by this administration. BORROWING, TARGETED INVESTMENT, AND PRINTING MONEY DOES NOT STIMULATE THE ECONOMY…IT TRANSFERS CASH TO A FEW SELECT ENTITIES, CREATES INFLATION, AND DEPRESSES THE PRIVATE SECTOR!!!!!
“…if you told the Tea Partiers that we had to spend shitloads of money we don’t have to wage war on Islam, they’d pee themselves with glee.”
This is not only vulgar but stupidly wrong on so many counts! 1. Defense of the nation is called for in the Constitution. 2. We are not at war with Islam; not under Bush nor under Obama 3. Conservatives support going to war only when our country (and in this case the world) has been threatened and only as a last resort.
“Obama wants to spend shitloads of money we ain’t got on roads and schools and healthcare…”
Yes, he’s a man that has been elected in the exact wrong time. Back when people were inexperienced and naive enough to think the government could solve these probelms efficiently and well he might have been seen as a giant. Now he looks like a clown because this philosophy DOES NOT WORK! Also key words “we do not have” are a gross understatement in this economy! That too only makes him look rediculous.
Individuals can do roads, schools and healthcare better when they join together in the private sector or at the state and local levels.
“Go figure.”
The entire world has been figuring for several mionths now and found the BIG Government model to be incredibly unsustainable, inefficient and sadly, unable to produce a positive result.
“This is not only vulgar but stupidly wrong on so many counts!”
Is it really? I almost wish he’d propose it, so we could see.
“… this philosophy DOES NOT WORK!”
Really? Tell that to a Medicare recipient, and then tell them you propose to abolish their healthcare … and then stand back … them old ladies (and their children, and their grandchildren and their great grandchildren) are mean!
Rediculous? Shades of Harry Potter!
Better yet, tell it to a doctor who gets paid a scale not seen since the 1950’s. It’s why you can’t find doctors willing to take medicare patients.
Libby: “Really? Tell that to a Medicare recipient, and then tell them you propose to abolish their healthcare … ”
You are not stupid Libby so I have to assume you say crap like this just to be a butthead.
Conservatives do not propose taking Medicare away from seniors…never have and never would unless it was possaible to replace it with something better.
NOW here’s the truth on this issue…Obama’s health care plan, installed through underhanded shenanigans by Reid/Pelosi, includes cuts in Medicare payments to docs by something like 25% with a plan to decrease the amount again in future (to 40%). These cuts come on top of payments that are already very low. MANY docs are warning their medicare patients and telling them to write their ccongressman. The docs can’t treat patients at such low compensation rates. This legisaltion has to go!
So, dear heart, the “brilliant” Obama/Reid/Pelosi fix for health care DOES take medicare away from little old ladies. These jerks aren’t even up front about it…they lie and will blame the docs and the hospitals when the old folks lose their care. They will also find a way to try to pin it on Republicans who voted against this turkey. These are the most slimey, egotistical, self serving A-holes in the history of the country. The real destruction will occur long after their gone if this is allowed to stand. They don’t care that they are destroying our healthcare industry with this legislation; they only care about going down in history as having done something BIG!
Achhhh