Bernanke’s Startling Comment Indicates Fragile Economy

Posted on Thursday, July 18, 2013 by Post Scripts

Posted by Tina

Listening to the Fed Chairman speak is like listening to a report delivered in a foreign language. Most Americans don’t even bother to listen. But Chairman Bernanke said something that everyone can understand and that if not handled right could have a profound impact in our lives. I’m talking about the injection of money into the market called QE. This is the policy that is said to have saved us from imminent doom and was supposed to act like a spark plug for the economy. While most recession recoveries were relatively short in duration followed by steady strong growth the current economy continues to flag and Bernanke admitted that if he were to ease off on QE “…the economy would tank”.

We are told every month that things are getting better. It is such a lie.

A reminder…it IS the economy, stupid. I know the intense racism in America is all the talk right now but let us not forget the continuing high unemployment and the fact that Americans continue to lose buying power even if they are working. Gasoline and food prices are rising. The housing recovery is made up mostly of investors. A few folks have purchased new cars lately but the rate of sales is still very sluggish in a nation that relies heavily on the private car to get around. If it were not for the leadership of governors in conservative red states I think we’d be in much worse shape than we are. Apparently Mr. Bernanke agrees.

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6 Responses to Bernanke’s Startling Comment Indicates Fragile Economy

  1. RHT447 says:
    Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    I realize that I am repeating myself, but the current reaciton by those upset with the Zimmerman verdict will pale in comparison to their reaction when the economy tanks and the free ice cream machine stops.

  2. Chris says:
    Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 4:51 pm

    We would do well to listen to Bernanke. He supports stronger stimulus efforts and says that Congress is the biggest obstacle to economic growth. A quick look around the world shows he’s right: countries that have embraced austerity have had much slower recoveries than countries that have embraced stimulus. Though Bernanke is a conservative Republican appointed by George Bush, I highly doubt he’d agree with the red state governers who want no more stimulus and whose philosophy is “cut, cut. cut.”

  3. J. Soden says:
    Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    Hey Chris. You want economic growth? Obumble hasn’t helped so far, has he?
    The BEST thing for our economy would be a total repeal of Obumblecare so that employers can get back to creating rather than cutting jobs!

  4. Tina says:
    Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    They raised taxes and cut cut cut government spending! And they are dying.

    CBS News:

    Government austerity measures have pushed the eurozone into the longest recession in European Union history. Figures released today showed the EU’s economy shrank 0.2 percent in the first quarter — the sixth quarter in a row of contraction — and there is little indication this will change anytime soon.

    Eurostat today reported nine of 17 eurozone countries are now in recession. France, which saw its gross domestic product drop for a second consecutive quarter, was a big addition to the list of nations. France’s GDP fell 0.7 percent compared with the fourth quarter due to drops in consumer spending and exports. The entire region’s economy contracted 0.2 percent in the first quarter. That means on an annualized basis the eurozone is contracting at a 0.9 percent rate.

    In an effort to stem the financial crisis, European nations have raised taxes and cut spending in order to reduce government debt. With private-sector spending also getting cut so far all these austerity measures have done is lowered economic activity and increased the need for unemployment benefits and other social costs.

    Here’s more:

    Ne Zealand Herald

    Fearing that a generation of Europeans is doomed to joblessness, the European Union is quietly side-lining the doctrine of austerity and instead placing its bet on encouraging growth.

    For the past three years, debt-burdened southern Europe has been taking the knife to government budgets, toeing the line set by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is shouldering the tab for bailing out profligates.

    But early doubts in this strategy are now sprouting like hothouse flowers.

    If budgets are chopped too fast, say critics, an economy goes into a death spiral. Activity shrinks, government income falls, so spending needs to be trimmed again to meet borrowing targets, and so on.

    Topping the list of Europe’s worries is unemployment. Across the 27-nation bloc, 10.9 per cent of the workforce has no job. But in the 17 countries with the euro single currency, the rate is 12.1 per cent, or more than 19.2 million people, the highest since records began in 1995, according to the official agency Eurostat.

    Joblessness is highest in Greece, at 27.2 per cent, followed by Spain at 26.7 per cent and Portugal at 17.5 per cent. Unemployment among young people in these countries is truly desperate: 59.1 per cent in Greece, 55.9 per cent in Spain, 38.4 per cent in Italy and 38.3 per cent in Portugal.

    People who have spent four or five years at university are now washing dishes or doing gardening – if they can find work – and many contemplate emigrating.

    Stupid people the answer for the economy is not government. Government has no money unless it prints (we are enduring that extended nutty policy) or, the economy is supported in private sector growth.

    Study up on the result that followed after polices enacted by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were adopted. If governments hadn’t squandered the boom by growing dependency and bureaucracy we would still be enjoying prosperity.

    I sincerely hope you get a chance to experience such growth in your lifetime.

  5. Tina says:
    Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    There won’t be any ice cream to give out if this goes on much longer…sometimes the adult just has to let the big babies bawl.

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