Posted on 04/27/2011 10:14:31 AM PDT by demsux
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 and did not give guidance on the outlook of policy after the end of quantitative easing. The FOMC repeated that rates are likely to stay low for an "extended period." The Fed gave itself flexibility by adding that it would "adjust" its holdings of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities as needed. Attention now turns to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's first-ever news conference scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. The Fed will also release its updated economic forecasts for 2011 and 2012 just before the press conference begins.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Hold Steady? Is this the same “steady” while our dollar is plummeting? Oil prices are skyrocketing? The debt is out of control? Inflation is slapping us?
They can keep printing money, but it will not suppress interest rates much longer. Rates will rise, quite a bit, and then you will see it ripple through the economy as REAL INFLATION.
Stick to the REALLY important issues like the Birth Certificate.
Dampened growth and inflation are NOT mutually exclusive. Think Stagflation.
Jimmy Carter redux.
Here's the money statement. Just as I surmised last week. The Fed declares "victory" over the "improving" economy, says no more QE is needed after #2, and then as soon as the economy and the markets take another downturn from no longer being pumped up, the Fed will call it something else, but it will in fact be more QE whether it's QE2.1 or QE3.0.
Yup, you got it. We’re going to get crushed between both.
Noticed that too...didn’t say “decrease” holdings.
“The Fed declares “victory” over the “improving” economy, says no more QE is needed after #2, and then as soon as the economy and the markets take another downturn from no longer being pumped up, the Fed will call it something else, but it will in fact be more QE whether it’s QE2.1 or QE3.0.”
Exactly.
I very much doubt the Fed could stop monetizing the debt without bringing the government to a crashing halt. Are there enough investors to buy all the debt we need to issue if the Fed gets out of the market? When QE2 ends the Fed will have to replace it with some other mechanism for accomplishing the same end. If it doesn’t we won’t be able to beg, borrow, steal or print enough money to keep the federal government functioning. Nobody in the governing class wants to see the federal government bouncing checks; the Fed will keep the monetary shell game going long after our currency is destroyed.
Fixed.
Good comment. I was listening to the end of the Rush Limbaugh show a half hour ago. Without warning, he wrapped the show up by saying that, due to the (political) stresses of the last few days, he’s taking the next two days off to “think deeply about where I am and about where we are.” He had just been hearing something from the first-ever Bernanke press conference that really disturbed him. Regarding that, his last words of the show were “People are lying to us. That’s why I need a few days.”
I immediately came to FR, expecting to see a LIVE thread on this first-ever press conference, that might help me figure out what Limbaugh was talking about, only to find...billions of threads on the BC.
Something about all of this disturbed Rush Limbaugh enough today, that in a very unusual move, he announced he's taking the next few days off to study deeply what is going on and where we are. His last comment was: "People are lying to us."
Keep a watch on this. Something's up.
“I very much doubt the Fed could stop monetizing the debt without bringing the government to a crashing halt. Are there enough investors to buy all the debt we need to issue if the Fed gets out of the market?”
_______________________________________________________________
How about if they change the laws regarding 401-(k)’s and force us to buy Treasuries with our retirement contributions? The American people get to finance the debt. It will be presented to them as their “patriotic duty”. They receive a ‘guaranteed” 3% and never lose a penny!
Congress could pass a law, president signs it, and it’s done!
Dang it, I missed the last few minutes! But he was on fire before that, and sounded very angry.
Prayers for his safety...really.
Interesting. I had just turned off the radio a few minutes before that.
Hope bonds
Congress wouldn't dare pass it, and the President wouldn't dare sign it. The law you suggest would also be impossible to implement without violence on a grand scale. It would be the persecution of the Kulaks translated into the Information Age. The modern left just doesn't have the guts to try. The USA is much diminished from its glory days, but it still isn't Argentina.
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