Chairman Bernanke Explains It All
On Sunday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke met the media, or at least PBS "NewsHour" anchor Jim Lehrer, along with some concerned citizens of Kansas City, Mo., to discuss how the Fed has dealt with the ongoing economic catastrophe over the past few months.
On Sunday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke met the media, or at least PBS “NewsHour” anchor Jim Lehrer, along with some concerned citizens of Kansas City, Mo., to discuss how the Fed has dealt with the ongoing economic catastrophe over the past few months.
TRUTHDIG’S JOURNALISM REMAINS CLEARThe Wall Street Journal:
Speaking directly to Americans in a forum to be shown on public television this week, Mr. Bernanke pushed back against Kansas City area residents who suggested he and other government officials were too eager to help big financial institutions before small businesses and common Americans.
“Why don’t we just let the behemoths lay down and then make room for the small businesses?” asked Janelle Sjue, who identified herself as a Kansas City mother.
“It wasn’t to help the big firms that we intervened,” Mr. Bernanke said, diving into a discourse on the damage to the overall economy that can result when financial firms that are “too big to fail” collapse.
“When the elephant falls down, all the grass gets crushed as well,” Mr. Bernanke said. He described himself as “disgusted” with the circumstances that led him to rescue a couple of large firms, and called for new laws that would allow financial firms other than banks to fail without going into bankruptcy.
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Market forces are colliding as another U.S. financial crisis brews. Meanwhile, sit tight on the roller coaster.
The September/October issue of Foreign Affairs features an article titled “Print Less But Transfer More: Why Central Banks Should Give Money Directly To The People.” It’s the sort of thing normally heard only from money reformers and Social Credit enthusiasts far from the mainstream. What’s going on?
"Hundreds of pages of transcripts, based on recordings made at the time, reveal the ignorance of Fed officials about economic conditions during the climactic months of the financial crisis," The New York Times reports.
Congress has the power to amend the Fed -- just as it did in 1934, 1958 and 2010. For the central bank to satisfy its mandate to promote full employment and become an institution that serves all the people -- not just the 1% -- the Fed needs fundamental reform.
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