Free Republic

The Federal Reserve has done all it can for now to get the U.S. economy back on track. Now it's time to simply wait for it to heal. That was the message delivered by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in a widely anticipated speech Friday to an annual gathering of bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyo. "It may take some time, but we can reasonably expect to see a return to growth rates and (better) employment levels," Bernanke said. "This economic healing will take a while, and there may be setbacks along the way." The Fed chairman stopped short of any...

Many politicians and media pundits who should know better are not thinking very rationally about Governor Rick Perry’s recent critical remarks concerning Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and further additions to the nation’s money supply. It turns out that a constitutional analysis adds weight to Governor Perry’s instructive remarks. As reported, those remarks on August 15th were: “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American...

Super-low interest rates haven't done what they usually do after a recession. They haven't ignited economic growth or revived the home market or persuaded consumers to spend freely again. They have, though, caused misery for retirees and others who depend on interest income. Such income plummeted 27 percent from 2008 to last year. Now, some economists worry that low rates might be hurting the economy itself -- defeating the purpose of the Federal Reserve's low-rate policies. When savers earn less, they spend less. And spending by individuals drives about 70 percent of the U.S. economy. Those concerns arise 2 1/2...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Texas Governor Rick Perry has been on a Bernanke-bashing binge this week, demanding on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve "open their books up." That comment comes after Perry said earlier this week that it would be "treasonous" if Chairman Ben Bernanke used Fed policy to stimulate the economy before the election. But what books exactly does Perry want opened? The Federal Reserve already publishes its balance sheet online every Thursday for the entire world to see. Not only that, it is audited regularly. Every year, an external accounting firm audits the financial statements of the Federal...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry made a statement about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calling his actions treacherous and treasonous. Of course, the media is coming to the defense of the chairman. Media Republican analysts such as Karl Rove and Bill Kristol are calling Perry's statement unpresidential and pathetic. Peter Wehner, a former Bush White House aide, wants Perry to apologize. Remember, Bush appointed Bernanke to head the Fed, so it is not surprising that former Bush officials are quickly coming to the defense of their pal Ben. The only person who should be apologizing is Ben Bernanke for pushing...

* Perry threatens Fed chairman, Bachmann also criticizes * Remarks reflect intense political pressure on Fed * White House says threatening Bernanke "not a good idea" (Adds fresh quotes from Bachmann, Obama, economist) WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The White House denounced Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Tuesday for his threatening remarks toward the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve that represented some of the most inflammatory rhetoric of the 2012 election campaign. Campaigning in Iowa on Monday, the Texas governor said he would consider it "treasonous" if Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "prints more money between now and the...

** Did Perry go too far? A day after appearing to outshine Michele Bachmann on her home turf in Waterloo, albeit with some tough rhetoric aimed at President Obama, Rick Perry might have gone a bit too far in criticizing Obama and even the Federal Reserve while campaigning in Iowa yesterday. For Texans, this is typical Perry. But for Americans who do not know him, it's eyebrow-raising rhetoric. In fact, he sounded more like Trump or Gingrich. "I think the greatest threat to our country right now is this president trying to spend his way out of this debt," Perry...

.....Campaigning in Iowa on Monday, the Texas governor said he would consider it "treasonous" if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke "prints more money between now and the election" in November 2012 -- a fresh sign of the political heat the central bank faces as it tries to right the stumbling U.S. economy. The White House responded by saying it is important for the central bank to remain independent, and jabbed back at Perry, who on Saturday entered the race for the Republican nomination to face President Barack Obama. "I certainly think threatening the Fed chairman is not a good idea,"...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Texas Gov. Rick Perry turned his rhetorical fire on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke here Monday night, saying that the chairman would be committing a “treasonous” act by ordering the printing of more money and said doing so would amount to a political decision to help President Obama win reelection in 2012. “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don’t know what you all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas,” he said of the possibility of another round of so-called quantitative...

FLORENCE, Alabama | FLORENCE, Alabama (Reuters) - The risk of a new U.S. recession has risen over the last couple of months, but an outright contraction will most likely be avoided, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday. Lockhart said there is plenty the central bank could do if the economy does deteriorate further, including ramping up asset purchases or shifting their composition. Recent market volatility, driven in part by concerns of slowing economies both in the United States and Europe, threatens consumer confidence and could put a crimp on spending, Lockhart told a Rotary Club meeting....

During a stop tonight at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired a warning shot at the Obama Administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Perry was asked to comment on “the Fed,” and while he said he didn’t really want to take on the Fed question right now, he did have some blunt comments about the rumored possibility of the Federal Reserve printing a lot more money between now and November 2012 to make the economy appear better than it really is. Perry said: “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what...

NEWS last week that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates near zero until mid-2013 was welcomed by many investors, but the bleak message about the economy still came through loud and clear. The Fed has spent several years trying to kick-start the economy with low rates and other policies, with little success. Which raises this question: Will more of the same help now? Among the doubters is Thomas M. Hoenig, the soon-to-be former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Mr. Hoenig, at the helm of the Kansas City Fed for the last 20 years, has thought...

On Twitter, Nouriel Roubini declares that the latest currency interventions from Switzerland and Japan represent the start of QE3, ultimately ending in more Fed easing.

James Pethokoukis of Reuters published a chart Tuesday demonstrating exactly why all the hysteria about a debt default or missing Social Security check payments is a bunch of nonsense. If America's news outlets were actually interested in disseminating the truth rather than fear-mongering, this chart or something like it would be part of every report involving the debt ceiling: What this chart created by the securities firm Goldman Sachs perfectly demonstrates is that there are ample tax receipts coming to the Treasury in August to pay the interest on our debt, Social Security, Medicare, and "essential" defense costs.

Ron Paul's recent idea on how to ease the national debt is hardly original but none the less worthy of consideration. He has proposed what leftist critics of the status quo monetary system have been proposing for decades: that money printing should be used to fund the government. To give Ron due credit, he is not proposing exactly that. More precisely, he is proposing that the Fed should tear up a bundle of its Treasury securities, which would lower our overall debt total bringing us below the current debt ceiling. Still, the mechanics are identical, if not in reverse order....

Determining when the next great liquidation will occur is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty; nevertheless it is fair to say the sooner the better.  Economic liquidation is a restorative process that corrects the harm done by inflationary policies.  If accepting of this premise, then liquidations or deflationary depressions cannot be considered the disease in need of cure which unfortunately has been the position of economic interventionists since the early 1920's. Instead, they are a necessary and unavoidable adjustment after years of excessive credit expansions have destabilized the economy.  Efforts to further delay these self-corrections by instituting a...

Fed head Ben Bernanke, at his first-ever news conference on Wednesday, slammed the door shut on any new QE3 pump-priming. The $600 billion QE2 program to purchase bonds will end on target at the end of June, and that will be that. Mr. Bernanke also suggested that the Fed’s “extended period” for the near-zero federal funds target rate could end in a couple of meetings. Perhaps these announcements suggest a bit-less-easy monetary policy. Perhaps. But Mr. Bernanke had no defense of the sinking dollar, or the inflation it brings, or the drop in middle-class living standards it causes. So it’s...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday left its key interest rate at an historic low range of 0% to 0.25% and said its $600 billion bond-buying program would end as scheduled on June 30. Inflation has picked up and the Fed now says the economic recovery is proceeding at "a moderate pace," but the central bank still said the inflation pickup will be temporary and the jobs market is still a concern. The decisions were widely expected. The FOMC made only few changes to the language of the policy statement it issued in March...

We’ve always wondered why there is so much debate about the rate of inflation. It seems like such a simple thing to track. You go in the store. You buy a box of Wheaties. You write down the price. Next month, you do the same thing. What’s so hard about that? But what if the box is smaller next month? What if the Wheaties are twice as good? What if you can get the same enjoyment from a box of Wheatie-Puffs at half the price? What’s the real rate of inflation? It depends on how you figure it. The Labor...

There was nothing special about the press conference Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke held about the economic projections and reports for the rest of 2011. The Fed is predicting gradual economic growth, a slow rise to inflation, and a small reduction in the unemployment rate.The whole press conference was dull and boring. No one really challenged Bernanke on the Fed's monetary policy. Just because you hold a press conference doesn't mean you are showing transparency. The mainstream media likes to ask the sweet, simple questions instead of the tough, difficult questions. Ron Paul should have been one of the reporters...