Bernanke from 2002: "Deflation: Making Sure "It" Doesn't Happen Here"

I see helicopters and printing presses.

I see the US dollar being intentionally destroyed (trust me, living in Europe, I REALLY see the dollar being destroyed).

I see Bernanke being freaked out by deflation, while trying as hard as he can to stoke inflation, and hoping it all comes out in the wash.

I see pissed off Arabs and Chinese holding US dollars and debt.

And I see a new bubble. Somewhere.

Here's Bernanke, in 2002, telling us what he was going to do. And then he did it. Try to get through the whole speech if you can. And invest wisely.

The Congress has given the Fed the responsibility of preserving price stability (among other objectives), which most definitely implies avoiding deflation as well as inflation.

I am confident that the Fed would take whatever means necessary to prevent significant deflation in the United States and, moreover, that the U.S. central bank, in cooperation with other parts of the government as needed, has sufficient policy instruments to ensure that any deflation that might occur would be both mild and brief.

When inflation is already low and the fundamentals of the economy suddenly deteriorate, the central bank should act more preemptively and more aggressively than usual in cutting rates. By moving decisively and early, the Fed may be able to prevent the economy from slipping into deflation, with the special problems that entails.

Like gold, U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost.

By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, the U.S. government can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services. We conclude that, under a paper-money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation.

If we do fall into deflation, however, we can take comfort that the logic of the printing press example must assert itself, and sufficient injections of money will ultimately always reverse a deflation.

Ron Paul at tonight's GOP debate on the Fed's blatant destruction of the US dollar and how that benefits the rich at the expense of the middle class

[UPDATE] - CNBC pulled their debate poll, after Ron Paul took 75%+ of the votes (why does RP destroy the field in EVERY poll? Don't the other candidates have supporters with internet connections?). But MSNBC's poll is still up - VOTE HERE


Hot off the presses, here's the debate of tonight's CNBC debate, with Ron Paul laying it out. Too bad 99% of Americans aren't smart enough to understand what he's saying.

Because it's true.

Congressman Paul, I think you have questions and concerns about the bonanza in the hedge fund industry. Do you?

Mr. Paul: Yes. I think this is not a consequence of free markets. What's happening is, there's transfer of wealth from the poor and the middle class to the wealthy.

Mr. Paul: This comes about because of the monetary system that we have. When you inflate a currency or destroy a currency, the middle class gets wiped out.

So the people who get to use the money first which is created by the Federal Reserve system benefit. So the money gravitates to the banks and to Wall Street.

That's why you have more billionaires than ever before. Today, this country is in the middle of a recession for a lot of people. Michigan knows about it. Poor people know about it. The middle class knows about it. Wall Street doesn't know about it. Washington, D.C., doesn't know about it.

But it's because of the monetary system and the excessive spending. As long as we live beyond our means we are destined to live beneath our means.

And we have lived beyond our means because we are financing a foreign policy that is so extravagant and beyond what we can control, as well as the spending here at home.

And we're depending on the creation of money out of thin air, which is nothing more than debasement of the currency. It's counterfeit. And it is a natural, predictable consequence that you're going to have people benefit from it and other people suffer.

Mr. Paul: So, if you want a healthy economy, you have to study monetary theory and figure out why it is that we're suffering. And everybody doesn't suffer equally, or this wouldn't be so bad.

It's always the poor people -- those who are on retired incomes -- that suffer the most. But the politicians and those who get to use the money first, like the military industrial complex, they make a lot of money and they benefit from it.

Mr. Matthews: Thank you, Congressman.

(APPLAUSE)

[UPDATE] - Bonus video - and damn, Ron Paul is the only candidate talking about the things HP is talking about. Republican should be proud, and instead they want him to go away. Shows you the state of the current Republican party.