If it wasn't so true it'd be funny - "Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In"

This one from The Onion is classic.

Bubble after bubble after bubble.

How else are we supposed to buy crap we don't need?

WASHINGTON—A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest.

"What America needs right now is not more talk and long-term strategy, but a concrete way to create more imaginary wealth in the very immediate future," said Thomas Jenkins, CFO of the Boston-area Jenkins Financial Group, a bubble-based investment firm. "We are in a crisis, and that crisis demands an unviable short-term solution."

The current economic woes, brought on by the collapse of the so-called "housing bubble," are considered the worst to hit investors since the equally untenable dot-com bubble burst in 2001. According to investment experts, now that the option of making millions of dollars in a short time with imaginary profits from bad real-estate deals has disappeared, the need for another spontaneous make-believe source of wealth has never been more urgent.

Despite the overwhelming support for a new bubble among investors, some in Washington are critical of the idea, calling continued reliance on bubble-based economics a mistake. Regardless of the outcome of this week's congressional hearings, however, one thing will remain certain: The calls for a new bubble are only going to get louder.

"America needs another bubble," said Chicago investor Bob Taiken. "At this point, bubbles are the only thing keeping us afloat."

Is Ben Bernanke trying to create a new stock market bubble, to replace the housing bubble, which replaced the stock market bubble?

And will he succeed?

We've lost our manufacturing base, incomes are flat, the spending of the past six years was done on home equity, consumer debt is now the only new way to bring new money into the system, and if we don't get a new asset bubble soon to create wealth and drive spending, we're screwed.

Consider these great quotes, from Bubbles Ben Bernanke, speaking right when the housing bubble was inflating in 2002. You owe it to yourself to read his whole reckless speech. You'll better understand what may be coming next.

And my take - don't be a bull, don't be a bear. Be open minded, be prepared to react to new data, and when they change the rules to the game, remember they control the game.

"Aggressive bubble-poppers would like to see the Fed raise interest rates vigorously and proactively to eliminate potential bubbles in asset prices. To be frank, this recommendation concerns me greatly, and I hope to persuade you that it is antithetical to time-tested principles and sound practices of central banking."

"The Fed cannot reliably identify bubbles in asset prices. Second, even if it could identify bubbles, monetary policy is far too blunt a tool for effective use against them."

Open Thread: HP'ers let Ben Bernanke and the Fed know what's on your mind

And advice for Ben for Monday?

Cut 1/2?
Cut 1/4?
Hold?
Raise 1/4?
Quit?

HP's advice: Hold steady, and send this message to failed flippers, housing gamblers, reckless lenders, stupid builders, ramen eating realtors, immoral mortgage brokers and brain-dead bankers: We're done with bubbles. You made your bed, now sleep in it.

Fed Treads Moral Hazard

Wall Street has a dream: that the Federal Reserve will rescue financial markets with a sharp cut in interest rates.

Behind that dream lurks a problem, something financial people call moral hazard.

Moral hazard is an old economic concept with its roots in the insurance business. The idea goes like this: If you protect someone too well against an unwanted outcome, that person may behave recklessly. Someone who buys extensive liability insurance for his car may drive too fast because he feels financially protected.