May 20, 2008

Here's Paul Volcker, a giant of a man compared to Ben Bernanke, on the housing crash and mortgage meltdown, and what the Fed's role SHOULD be

The damage that Bernanke has inflicted upon the United States won't be seen until a few years down the road. Similar to Greenspan, who was treated as a god when he retired, only to be seen as a corrupt and incompetent goat now.

Volcker did what had to be done when it had to be done, and it was hard (but necessary). Bernanke on the other hand did what was easy. And you'll see down the line what that causes.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan partly caused the subprime-mortgage meltdown by refusing to adequately regulate lenders, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank says.

“I believe that if the Fed under Alan Greenspan had issued the regulations that are now being promulgated, we would have had much less of a crisis,” Frank (D-Newton) told a Suffolk University Law School forum yesterday.

“Greenspan felt very strongly that specific interventions in the economy would always fail,” said Frank, who’s leading the mortgage market’s cleanup as head of the House Financial Services Committee. “To Greenspan, you had two choices - (raise) interest rates drastically and take down the whole economy in the process, or let (market excesses) go on.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2008_05_20_Frank_blames_Fed__Greenspan_for_subprime_woes/

Anonymous said...

Ben Bernanke isn't fit to carry Volker's briefcase.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who thinks Obama will hire a Paul Volcker - stand on your head.

Anyone who thinks we will see what happened in the Carter years - go to the front of the line.

Anonymous said...

what?

you mean swapping $.5T in treasuries for auto loans, credit cards, and nonperforming mortgages is bad policy? but the banks need money to lend!

seriously, could this be the death of the FRB?

Anonymous said...

OIL $129.08 PER BARREL...

DOW DOWN 150 POINTS...

HOME REPOT REPORTS CRASHED EARNINGS, SAYS HOUSING MARKET "DIFFICULT"...

REBATE CHECKS SPENT ON BLOW AND HOOKERS INSTEAD OF LATE HOUSE PAYMENTS...

BUSH VETO'S HOUSING BAILOUT FOR LENDERS...

DOPES!!!

Anonymous said...

Who is the asshole out of sight of the camera that thinks any of this is funny. He needs to read this:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/19/homeless.mom/index.html

Anonymous said...

But I thought the walking brainstem conservatives blame Carter for the high interest rates? Are you saying it was Volcker's fault?

Of course we all know who cured inflation- Reagan. He did it the way republicans always cure inflation. He threw 12% of the population out of work and destroyed working class wages and benefits.

Hopefully he's getting sodomized by the devil in Hell.

Devestment said...

The pendulum swings as the next administration has its hands tied by the misdeeds of his or her predecessor.

Any way you slice it- ObamaNation

Anonymous said...

IT'S NOT EVEN 12 O'CLOCK YET AND I JUST RELEASED ENOUGH "IT'S A GREAT TIME TO BUY" LIES TO THE MEDIA TO CARRY THE 6 PERCENTERS THROUGH ANOTHER TOUGH MONTH.

Anonymous said...

Barney Frank's comment reminds one of the old saying about how governments conduct its business: when in a hole, dig deeper!

Of course specific interventions in the economy alwsy fail; just look at what happened to the government programs that encouraged banks to lend to people who would not qualify for loans in normal market conditions. All the incentives "to help the lower middle class" backfired terribly. Now it's tax and inflation at the expense of the poor, lower-middle and retirees to bail out the banks.

Bitterrender, run-away inflation of the 70's had its roots in the Johnson administrations' "War on Poverty" and Nixon's "we are all Keynsians now" policy to delink the dollar from gold. Run-away inflation is the inevitable result of Keynsian economics. Carter was just unlucky and ineffectual, but he at least did two things right: (1) did not declare a war on Iran; instead, Carter cut losses after the desert rescue debacle; the self-righteous socialist "liberals" at that time had not yet turned into the chicken hawks that occupy today's administration, thank goodness; (2) picked Volker for the FED job.

Anonymous said...

If you folks didn't buy silver and gold when it was still cheap, IT MAY BE TOO LATE.

Don't say I didn't tell you.

Cuz I did.

Many many times, starting two years ago.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who thinks Obama will hire a Paul Volcker - stand on your head.

_______

Obama IS getting advice from Paul Volcker, ya know.

Not that he'll adopt Volcker's disciplined philosophy if he becomes President, though.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who thinks Obama will hire a Paul Volcker - stand on your head.

_______

Obama IS getting advice from Paul Volcker, ya know.

Not that he'll adopt Volcker's disciplined philosophy if he becomes President, though.

Anonymous said...

Who knows what Obama might do. Needs to get elected first...

but Carter appointed Volcker.
And inflation was already pretty persistent when he was elected. Anyone remember "Whip Inflation Now"? Need to dig out those WIN buttons again today.

Anonymous said...

Yeah! Now congress is going to sue OPEC for lower oil prices! I sure am glad these guys are in office! That will show that meany Chavez who is boss!!!!

Just wait till OPEC stops accepting dollars for oil. Who can we sue then? The FED?

Anonymous said...

Elders do have much wisdom.

Too bad Bush didnt listen to former President G.R. Ford.

Hell, bush didnt listen to anybody.

Funny how he (still) has his job as all of our elected officials turn their heads.

Tragic times indeed.

Anonymous said...

I getting dizzy, the blood is rushing to my head.

Seriously, congress should sue Greenspan and Bernanke for causing the housing bubble and allowing runaway inflation to kill my piggy bank.
Funny one on sueing over at
www.commentamerica.com

Good Time Charlie

Anonymous said...

inflation is finally taking the stock market down too -- even with all the BS numbers taking out the stuff that's rising fast. with the average american in debt, what's to put in the market? 401ks will probably get drained. why would foreigners want to invest here? SOX already pushed IPOs to London.

time to raise rates. in a credit crunch, credit should be expensive, not cheap. enough market fixing. it isn't working.

Anonymous said...

Keith,

Obama: the HP anti-thesis...

"Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called on Bush to "abandon his veto threats and commit his administration to working with Congress" to enact the measure quickly. "American families need urgent relief, and these are important steps to help innocent homeowners, without rewarding irresponsible lenders," the Democratic presidential candidate said in a statement.

The idea of an FHA-based foreclosure prevention bill has drawn staunch opposition from most Republicans, many of whom say they are concerned that taxpayers would be on the hook for huge losses if homeowners defaulted on their new loans."
-AP

Anonymous said...

Paul should just come out and say it: "With joos you lose."

Anonymous said...

Contact the Fed and let them know what you really think:

www.federalreserve.gov/feedback.cfm

Sometimes when you try to submit your comment you get an error message. Just keep trying.