Ben Bernanke only wants to save his wealthy Wall Street cronies. Even if it wrecks the U.S. dollar. Even if doing so ruins the entire American middle class.
Posted on 03/08/2008 5:31:18 AM PST by Travis McGee
Prior to my last appearance on CNBC in October 2007, I had made more than 50 appearances on the network over the prior two years. In those segments, I repeatedly exposed the superficiality of our prosperity, described the American economy as a “house of cards”, pointed out that borrowing and spending were a ticking time bomb rather than a viable plan for long term economic health, and explained how investors could prepare for the tough times ahead. At the time, those forecasts were met with ridicule and led to my being nicknamed “Dr. Doom”. Now that these predictions have come to pass, most on CNBC now claim that no one saw it coming!
In my 2006 and 2007 on-air appearances, to a chorus of sneers and laughter, I predicted the bursting of the housing bubble, the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, the credit crisis, tightening lending standards, waves of defaults, bankruptcies and foreclosures, weakness in financials, retailers and homebuilders, stagflation, surging gold, oil and other commodity prices, soaring federal budget deficits and a collapse in the value of the U.S. dollar. You would have thought that some of the reasons I gave for making those predictions would now be given some credence. They have not.
The current line at CNBC is that, prior to the “unexpected” contagion emanating from the subprime mess the U.S. economy was experiencing a “Goldilocks” era of optimal health. They now believe that if the Fed and the Government can divine the right combination of fiscal and monetary policy, Goldilocks will once again be blissfully picking daisies…or more precisely, buying SUV’s. Unfortunately, as I said then, Goldilocks was, and still is, a fairy tale. In fact, the unfolding economic disaster is a direct consequence of the misguided faith placed in that absurdly optimistic parable. And since they were incapable of diagnosing the disease, is it any wonder that their cures are completely ineffective?
This lack of understanding is further confirmed by the skepticism with which the mainstream financial community still regards my diagnosis. For example, in a Feb 22, 2008 article in TheStreet.com, entitled “Dr. Doom Zeros in on Inflation”, Mike Holland, a CNBC regular leveled two common criticisms often used to discredit me. Holland says “investors who listened to Schiff throughout the recent bull market missed out on some attractive returns in the stock market” and “A broken clock is right twice a day. If you say things are going to be bad long enough, eventually you're going to be right."
What attractive returns does Holland think my clients missed out on? Those who followed my advice invested in foreign stocks, bonds and currencies, as well as precious metals, oil and other commodities. Investors who listened to me instead enjoyed much greater returns by participating in the real bull markets. It’s amazing how few people have managed to figure this out!
The “stopped clock” analogy is one I have been dealing with for years. Those using it maintain that my early warnings invalidate my forecasts. It is precisely because my warnings were so early that they were so valuable to investors. In addition, such charges assume that the current downturn is unrelated to those warnings and that my critique of the U.S. economy was inaccurate until now. My critics, the real stopped clocks, still do not understand that the phony prosperity they were defending and that I was challenging lies at the root of the current crises. When the bubble was still inflating it is understandable that those trapped inside viewed me as a stopped clock. However, now that it has burst, it is amazing how many still cannot get the soap out of their eyes.
If a picture, or in this case a video, is worth 1,000 words, this CNBC match up from August 2006 between me and Arthur Laffer, a CNBC favorite, is priceless. Some of Laffer’s best one-liners include ‘the U.S. economy has never been in better shape”, and “monetary policy is spectacular”. I kid you not -- Click Here and enjoy the show.
Yeah, that CNBC infobabe enjoys her high 6 figure job, that’s for sure!
I wonder if Laffer will send Schiff the penny and the letter?
I am so counting on it I am turning blue in the face holding my breath.
Or did he not? Did you watch the debate video?
You are a perfect example of someone trying to discredit Schiff with his own “broken clock” comparison. You're perfect. Don't stop. You make his point beautifully.
Profit? Hmmmmm.... Kind of appropos in this discussion.
According to the moneychangers of the world we are ALL just profits and losses.
Holy cow, history has splattered mud on Laffer’s face.
Although travis was wrong about interest rates going up...
And that bimbo kicking in about women and jobs? She does not deserve the soapbox she gets. Nor do her opinions.
>>I just got approved for a 900,000 dollar loan, I’m going to be RICH!<<
Skip the country and move to a nice abode in Central America and you will be!
Oranges are a penny a piece. No building permits. Hired help for a few dollars a day.
I have a friend that has a 50 acre ranch, a 6,000+ sq ft house and puny property taxes. The whole thing cost less than $100k! The locals are very friendly, corruption is about the same as in the US.
But you gotta learn spanish.
I don't know who Schiff is but, according to what I read, he has been a perpetual bear for years. IF he has clients they would have all fired him by about April of 2007.
I prefer to listen to this guy who called the market top in 2000 and is very bullish right now.
Or because taxes are too high, Laffing Boy, or because the breadwinner took a pay cut, or there are lots of medical bills, or they both work at McDonalds, etc.
Dr. "Doom" AKA Dr. " Got It Right" nailed it - and saved his clients grief and money. But what's Dr. "Got It Right" saying now? How much further down do we go? (My guess - housing will lose another 30%) and when will it end?
The declared expectations by the “oh so wise ones” concerning jobs would be that there would be 25,000; however, the reality is that 63,000 were lost. That’s in the public sector.
The private sector lost 101,000 jobs.
Manufacturing lost 52,000 jobs.
Construction lost 39,000.
Restaurants and health care lost 19,000 and 37,000, respectively.
Yeah.....a “broken clock” is right twice a day.
FOFLOL
I know what’s happening. I would tell you. But then I would have to call some of Angelo’s buddies. They would want to silence both of us forever. The fish would be very happy . . . Just kidding . . . LOL . . .
[All of America seems to have the head-in-sand condition]
Agreed. It is part of being snake bit.
>>Like a weather man that predicts snow every day of the year, and then runs around yelling “I told you so” on the day of the big blizzard.<<
Good point. But what if a weather man just this week started saying it is going to snow and then it does? It is disingenuous to then say that he was just a “stopped clock being right” because SOME OTHER weather man has been saying since June that it was going to snow.
Also, a lot of people missed the timing of this meltdown because few knew just how many tricks would be pulled to keep the bubble inflating. I thought it was crazy when banks increased the allowable mortgage payment from 30% to 50% of income. I thought THAT was creating unqualified buyers. But I had no idea just how silly they would get in granting loans.
And that simply prolonged the day of rekonning but also ensured that it would be worse once it got here.
And it has been said that these sort of collapses always take longer to arrive than predicted, but once they arrive, they unfold more rapidly than predicted.
This is going to be a VERY interesting year. Popcorn futures should be up.
Yep. She's not waiting tables or sewing garments or loading boxes to feed her children.
What a pompous ass she was.
Our local conservative talk station (KVI) has Carlene Johnson as a “sidekick” to Kirby Wilbur. She started off as a traffic, news, weather girl and still really is. I’ve met her. She is a nice person.
But she gets to stand on the soapbox quite often with her opinions much like the bimbo in the video. I agree with most of her opinions but she is like a child merely echoing their parents opinions. She cannot back them up and just sounds lame when she tries.
Yet callers that clearly have the ability to articulate the foundations upon which their opinions are based are given the bum’s rush.
It is one of the reasons I don’t listen much any more.
...Government Records
Who owns the defaulted mortgage is a headache for the government, which Morgan Stanley insists doesn't always know the correct owner of the property. Judges in at least five states have stopped foreclosure proceedings because the banks that pool mortgages into securities and the companies that collect monthly payments haven't been able to prove they own the mortgages, according to court records.
Banks or mortgage companies typically hire people to care for repossessed properties. As foreclosures increase and the value of property drops, more companies are simply walking away, Zandi said.
The three-bedroom condominium on Boston's Hendry Street deeded to Morgan Stanley is on the market for $54,900. The unit, located in an area known as Meeting House Hill for a nearby church founded by Puritans in 1631, sold for $299,000 two years ago, according to public records.
Morgan Stanley said it bought the loan in April 2006 to package and resell it in a security. That didn't happen because the homeowner defaulted on the first payment.
Ben Bernanke only wants to save his wealthy Wall Street cronies. Even if it wrecks the U.S. dollar. Even if doing so ruins the entire American middle class.
bookmark bump
Ain’t that the Truth....
Hey, there used to be people here that believed that Bush was a godsend.
Whats up with that?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.