by | ARTICLES, BLOG, ECONOMY, GOVERNMENT, OBAMA, POLITICS, TAXES
Ben Bernanke debuted his new gig today, that of a writer on the “Ben Bernanke Blog”. Though he is not in charge of the Fed anymore, nevertheless he proved that he is still trying to stay relevant by continuing to be an old shill for the President.
The most ridiculous point Bernanke tried to defend was the strategy of keeping “rates low to encourage borrowing and spending and strengthen their economies.” But as Fed Chairman he knew that companies really weren’t borrowing at all and that banks were simultaneously reluctant to lend. However it was not because of the down economy — as he would have you think — but of other meddling, mitigating factors like stifling regulations, Dodd-Frank, unrelenting business bashing by President, and the constant threat of higher taxes. And because these circumstances are still widely pervasive, we have yet to see any real economic recovery.
The fact of the matter is during his tenure as the Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke remained absolutely silent about the egregious anti-business environment. He was (and continues to be) a mouthpiece for this Administration instead of as a leader of an independent Fed.
by | ARTICLES, ECONOMY, OBAMA
It is really obvious to see that Ben Bernanke was not an independent Fed Chair, but just a lackey for President Obama. Though his responsibility was monetary policy, he was often asked why – despite the most stimulative monetary policy possible – the economy has shown the worst recovery, by far, since the Great Depression more than 80 years ago.
As a student of the Great Depression, Mr. Bernanke was fully aware of the disastrous policies of FDR that impeded the recovery – large tax increases, burdensome regulation, anti-business government programs, and overboard support of union labor- and that President Obama followed suit in every particular.
And yet not a word from Mr. Bernanke that these policies should be questioned. You might be able to say that the President didn’t know any better – you cannot say that about Mr. Bernanke.
I find Mr. Bernanke’s failure to address the exploding Obama regulatory excesses particularly inexcusable. The effect of new regulations from the EPA, NLRB, ObamaCare, Dodd Frank, etc., etc. clearly serves to curtail expansion plans, absorb capital that otherwise would have been used for growth, and increase the costs of starting a new business (clearly scuttling some). At least some meaningful portion of our scrawny recovery can be explained by this regulatory environment.
As Chair of the (supposedly) independent Federal Reserve, Mr. Bernanke owed it to the American people to speak out. This failure should be long-remembered.
