So the liquidity thing is licked. When do we address the solvency issue.

George Custer led his troops into the Battle of Little Big Horn, too. Leading into a crisis doesn't mean you are good at it.

In other news, Obama feverishly prepared for his meeting with Oprah on Wednesday.

"The man next to me, Ben Bernanke, has led the Fed through one of the worst financial crises that this nation and this world have ever faced,"

Correction, it should read
"The man next to me, Ben Bernanke, has led the Fed in first creating and then subduing one of the worst financial crises that this nation and this world have ever faced. We really have to see how the season finale will play out."

Not so fast. They have to keep propping up financial markets and hiding manipulation, remember?

Bernanke could suddenly develop a terminally ill geezer condition. He could reluctantly decline President Obama's nomination. It's all scripted.

So the liquidity thing is licked. When do we address the solvency issue.

Solvency is just the integral of liquidity over time... so just keep dealing with liquidity and it takes care of itself... right? Right?
.
[crickets chirping]

greenlander (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/24/2009 - 10:31 pm

Helicopter Ben will be the first one against the wall when the revolution comes.

HE was just followin' orders !

Nice 'Change,' Obama.

Bush-amplified, Obama is: expanding the war in Afghanistan, expanding Federal spending, expanding the bailouts.

Yep, it will be good to get real change in '12, or before, when the riots break out.

Obama ensured a one term presidency the day he was elected. He became president at the wrong time.

Helicopter Ben will be the first one against the wall when the revolution comes.

Only if Greenspan, Cheney, Gramm and Rubin have had accidents first.

the Martha's Vineyard setting is kinda strange to me. is it to project the idea that Obama is working all the time, even during his vacation? or will it backfire if they show up in sperrys and shades? sorry about the 9.4% unemployment, but we're up 60% from the march lows. Let the good times roll!!

Has there been a single Senate Democrat who has been a fierce credit of the Fed and/or BB in particular?

Mr. Summers' interview with the Chinese and Russians must not have gone well.

Alas, I don't think it matters who is in charge.

It's too laaaaaate.

My biggest fear about Henry, is that he blows all of his money on his kid's professional soccer team, and then there'll be nothing to go after.

from the last post:

student loan delinquency was based on Q1. it's got to be worse now, unless the delinquencies are "cured' by re-enrolling in school. nothing like adding more debt to stave off the bill collector.

I'm back in school after an extended absence. While it's not common, I've talked to a few people who have done this. The get a less than useful degree, a huge pile of student loan debt and not way to pay it off. Back to school time!

dryfly, I just did a trip across the country.... three days, wow the hardcores did 4 hours a sleep a night... I couldnt hang.... anyway put together a time lapse photo of a small portion... YouTube - SoCal to Vegas in Four.....

off to read old posts.... and ROTFLOL at the 'nytol' icon....

in that case...

mel writes: Senate hearings will be interesting--and Senate approval might not be as easy as some think. BB has made enemies in high places--in both parties.

The hidden threat is that Summers is the back-up. Confirmation will be loud with lots of false drama and grandstanding, but the outcome is assured.

Edit: Not that "hidden".

I was kinda hoping for Bono.

(audio is a work in progress... maybe in 15 mins...

Movie recommendation:

"The Hidden"

check it out...

nades the youtube piece reminds me of a poster I saw one... 'The 99 Exits of North Dakota'... some photographer went out I-94 and photographed every exit in NDak... then collaged them. Pretty much the same shot over and over - well almost. It was hilarious. I wish I had bought it - haven't seen it in years.

I definitely want Ben to stick around, just so that he'll still be in office when it all falls apart.

Soooo, he's taken care of job #1 (liquidity), and CR considers him "solid" for continued work. On to job #2.

I invited a girl from a bar to my house once. We drank some Tang and vodkas. Told her I was an astronaut. I think she believed me.

I think he is a solid choice for a 2nd term (not my first choice, but solid).

CR - Who is your first choice?

For starters, BB refused to be forthright during his trips to the hill. For another, his bank?AIG bailouts really don't play well with voters and thus Senators will go for brownie points.

I guess O' has decided to "stay the course." Not very change-ey.

Bernanke and Obama apparently share Goldman Sachs’ vision of resetting the system to the good old days of 2005.

TJ I dont really think you think that the wheels are going to fall off do you???

Oh yes I do, and possibly this year.

I expect a blowout, followed by a rollover and a fire. We'll see how the master of liquidity fares when the firehose suddenly runs out of water.

Dryfly,
Your thoughts on the movie?

I first saw it in the 80s with a buddy I worked with at a large chemical plant. It was at his house and we watched the vid that had just come out [ironically it was a betamax - he was arguing how much better beta was than vhs as the movie started]... our wives were with us [and our newly born spawn]... the ladies got bored and left to go in the other room... saying it was a stoopid movie about somebodies sick idea of the future... my buddy and I looked at each other - thought of the chem plant and said - hell it is our present - we'll be lucky to have that future. True story.

Odd but wonderful film.

Bernanke and Obama apparently share Goldman Sachs’ vision of resetting the system to the good old days of 2005.

Reminds me of the story when Hillary tried to show new thinking and presented the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov with a big red button, with signs in English and Russian. Lavrov read the signs, smiled and said that while Hillary apparently wanted to say "Reset" in Russian, the sign actually meant "Overload".

Quite a parallel

Bernanke could use a shave and a toupe. That would better his image. I envision him with a mullet toupe. As a tribute to the economy in the mid eighties.

Since everyone is being cautious here, I'll put my foot in it -- I think it would have been better to get some fresh blood in the Fed and kick out Ben and get Larry Summers into the top spot. He's not perfect, but he's whip-smart, and a new viewpoint at this time would be a relief after the figure-it-out-after-the-fact overly-academic Bernanke reign. I'm ready to hate somebody new. Larry would have been a perfect target for our venom -- smart enough to at least make a whole new set of mistakes.

I think we're all tired of the old set of mistakes.

Да здравствует Гай Юлий Цезарь!

To be eligible as collateral for TALF loans, legacy CMBS must be senior in payment priority to all other interests in the underlying pool of commercial mortgages and meet certain other criteria designed to protect the Federal Reserve and the Treasury from credit risk. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will review and reject as collateral any CMBS that does not meet the published terms or otherwise poses unacceptable risk.

The financial oligarchy in this country have attained a level of narcissism seldom seen in the annals of world history. What amazes me more is the number of sheeple that bow to worship them. We don't even dare audit them...it would be like questioning God. Save Us oh mighty Fed...wilt though please save us....oh wait...Bernanke believes he has ALREADY saved us.

I used to joke that one day I'd watch Brazil and 1984, then listen to the wall for an hour before killing myself. I may have to add Synecdoche to that line up >; )

From the last thread, where are people getting the student loan default rates from?

• disclaimer: I love Synecdoche and Brazil, I just have to be in a good headspace before viewing.

US Credit Conditions - Federal Reserve Bank of New York 

Isn't Brazil kind of like Clockwork Orange? Incidentally, I am directly a new film call Mozillo Orange. A fictional account of a man and his mortgage company that took down an economy.

Does anyone still object to my snarky glossary entries for Bush and Obama?

jg,

That kind of went with the fire, although in real life they're never quite as spectacular as Hollywood makes them out to be.

nades,

By "empty firehose" I meant a lack of T-bill buyers.

rich, how do you thing they make Tang?

TJ - I know. I thought the new logging rules made it easier for the fed to hide the T-demand? I might be wrong. It wasn't conclusive but MS might be able to chime in... He had his thoughts....

Isn't Brazil kind of like Clockwork Orange?

Through the eyes of Monty Python...

When was the last time you met a kid who said he/she wanted to be an astronaut when they grow up? Unfortunately since I Dream of Jeannie went off the air, kids now want to be reality stars and infomercial spokesmen. Something just isn't right. Personally, I wanted to be Bob Barker.

By "empty firehose" I meant a lack of T-bill buyers.

Price and 'yield' cure everything... To the moon Alice, to the moon!

Because he is the host, unlike the POTUS

Rob and MrM, I think the masses are awakening to the fact that there is no change. Just look at those plummeting poll numbers for ObaMessiah, especially amongst folks who voted for him.

I participated in a San Diego 'Recess Rally' at Congressman Susan Davis' office on Saturday at noon. We anti ObamaCare folks outnumbered the pro ObamaCare folks by two to one, and this was in a rather seedy (for San Diego), scruffy part of town.

OT: Charities happy to see end of 'clunkers' program

"Damn it, Sal, we wanted your Pinto. We could have sold it and made money for the church"

"But Father Murphy, that thing was a death trap."

"That is for god to decide, Sal."

MrM (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Mon, 8/24/2009 - 8:12 pm

Where is the snark, Rob? It is just a fact

It's a long running inside joke on CR. It seems entirely unremarkable now but in Sept '08 the idea of calling Leader O a continuation of the then current administration was anathema. I also took a ration of heck for my proclaimation of Obama=FAIL despite my being clear that it was a universal label for whomsoever won the office. I went so far as to predict that the "winner" would be lucky to escape as only being a one term President and was at some small risk of being the last President.

[Side note: Mrs. Dawg still doesn't understand what I see in "Brazil".]

or, 'Okay, we'll trade it to those libs at The National Council of Churches.'

I know. I was being snarky

Bernanke supported easy cheap money during the Greenspan era. He supports easy, cheap money now. I don't think this proves he adapts his strategy appropriately to the situation. It just proves that he can be relied on to provide easy, cheap money. Since that is what almost all politicians, bankers, and voters who are in debt want, he will be popular and successful.

Of course, we will be undergoing a repeat of the inflation of the 1970's. Bernanke and his successor, and Congress and the President, will find inflation 'unexpectedly' getting out of control (wink and nudge) and will spend 10 years doing "everything" getting that genie back in the bottle. At the end, they will be hailed for conquering the inflation that came from "nowhere". Meanwhile, our dollars will have become worth half as much.

Carry on....

Change for change's sake is not always good. But changing a dirty diaper is always good.

Sometimes it is funny. On some subjects like now half the keywords end up with references in the glossary. POTUS Bush Obama roast beef nothingburger.

mp, some years ago, I wanted my now 14 year old son to consider applying to Annapolis or West Point (I was a lowly Navy OCS graduate).

Now, with these interminable, pointless wars -- I once thought the Iraqis and Iranians would embrace democracy, and I was wrong; I now think there is something to the chant, 'No blood for oil' -- I have no intention of letting my precious son offer himself up to the N.W.O. meat grinder.

Informal poll:

Is my bias showing?

Follow up:
How many people know the application procedure?
How many people do you know that applied? and how many succeeded?

So the Bernanke Panky will continue.

Anybody believe that some other appointee would have been any different?

Was Bernanke any different than Alan Greenspend?

Compilation of the 2005–2007 prognostications of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. All wrong...
YouTube - Bernanke: Why are we still listening to this guy? 

BB isn't a hero, he isn't even competent in his role as the affable academic well liked and non controversial. Dropping to ZIRP and creating alphabet programs to prop up failed institutions while being the lapdog to Treasury/Wall Street should not be the definition of heroic action that saved the worlds financial system which was threatened by the initial mismanagement of the discount rate through the FOMC. Should today's federal judge's ruling stand and the chicanery that was allowed during the "financial crisis" is revealed then BB will have much to answer for and a very short second term.

Could be why he is getting the second term to be the fall guy when all is revealed...who knows anymore. The rules we all understood and the laws governing our country have been savagely compromised. The two tier system of justice and governance couldn't be any clearer unless they took out a full page WSJ ad and said "Screw all you little people."

Caught this on the way home today. Good listen and healthcare history lesson.
"Journalist and author T.R. Reid set out on a global tour of hospitals and doctors' offices, all in the hopes of understanding how other industrialized nations provide affordable, effective universal health care. The result: his book The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care."
T.R. Reid: Looking Overseas For 'Healing Of America' : NPR

CR, I think you're way too easy on Bernanke. He has orchestrated the largest looting of a republic, for the sake of the priveleged class, in history. How can this escape comment on your part?

I love your blog CR, but I much lean towards Hussman's analysis of the Fed/Administration's policy response. The policy has been totally irresponsible and borders on criminal.

JP (homepage, profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Mon, 8/24/2009 - 8:38 pm

They aren't astronauts anymore, they are mission specialists.
Not quite. There are two paths. Mission specialist is only one.

Oh. Yeah. Right. I forgot the other one; "Monkey pushes the button."

And, no that's not cynical, that's just the way it is now.

"The policy has been totally irresponsible and borders on criminal. "

Damned if you do and damned if you don't." Not a good situation to be appointed or elected into.

And, no that's not cynical, that's just the way it is now.

That's what the good avionics engineers are trying to do to ALL aircraft... only a matter of time too. Be like driving a monorail.

dryfly: "...Be like driving a monorail..."

Disneyworld, June?

No. Springfield, Homer.

My friend spent 6 months in a missle silo in ND with a monkey. Despite his best efforts, he never got the monkey pregnant. The monkey was a male, though.

Re: My daughter just watched "Brazil"

A good movie. A plausible version of the future. Especially with a nobility that is amoral. Dick “the DICK” Cheney would love a society like that, as would most PT's #1's, who would defend THEIR "Brazil" as long as "the trrrrrst" were being "dealt with".

This cycle we're going to get John Law rather than a Volcker.

Right.

dryfly (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Mon, 8/24/2009 - 8:43 pm

That's what the good avionics engineers are trying to do to ALL aircraft... only a matter of time too. Be like driving a monorail.

My old boss and I used to drink beer and talk about "glass windshields" back in the mid 80s. For all that White Knight II is the largest operational direct control aircraft flying.

OT: Was headed to the store this weekend and drove by one of the neighbors currently in default, NTS filed with trustee sale being postponed. They have 3 cars in their driveway, a BMW, some old Ford Truck and a newer Nissan Pathfinder. Well the old Ford Truck has been replaced by a new corolla fresh off the lot... Anyone want to bet they C4C? After all they probably haven't paid their mortgage in over a year I bet they paid cash.

Dawg - I figured you'd get it... probably have run into some of the same kind of folks at Honeywell & Collins.

A friend went to Disneyland last week, and he hadn't been in 20 years, and it's been about that long since i've been, as well.

He remarked how antiquated it all seemed now, a Tomorrowland that seemed stuck in the 70's, space this-that and whatever from the 60's, etc.

Re: Anybody know the status of the Patriot Act these days?

Too funny!

Really...

I would love to see Bernanke, forced by a spike in Treasury yields, to be Volcker.

Let's see him revise his speech ("On Milton Friedman's 90th Birthday) to say, "Milton and Anna, you're right. We did it, and I'm sorry we had to do it again."

Arrived in Albuquerque.... rental car counter girl recommended I try someplace... drove to it and saw it was attached to a Rodeway Inn... somehow doubted I would get something tasty there...

I went to Knott's Berry Farm at the height of the crash last year. Hadn't been in 15+ years. Empty, much improved rides, fried chicken was delicious as ever.

When I was a kid, we'd go to Knotts about every other week for chicken dinner, and the 3 rides they had back in the 60's, when they didn't charge admission to get into the main part of the park.

The thing about fried chicken is it takes really good. The bad thing about fired chicken is it tastes really good. Jim Morrison ate more chicken any man ever seen. That is why he died young of a heart attack.

"My friend spent 6 months in a missle silo in ND with a monkey. Despite his best efforts, he never got the monkey pregnant. The monkey was a male, though"

Jebus Christ I wondered why this human was following me around and eyeing me just so..

Greenspan Put = Ben's Benny

Re: student loan lending standards eroded just like with mortgages

Student loans are the last lending bubble, because of the belief in a college degree (even for the people that can't comprehend education).

"Like securitization, only better, you don't even have to pretend the loans are any good, they'll take anything."

Yes, the gov't pretty much blows.

patientrenter,

That may be the case, but the current system can't survive that. We're much too dependent upon imported energy, and such inflation would wreak absolute havoc on us. You'd see strikes and riots that would do French truckers & farmers proud.

TJ, did you live through the 1970's?

Who's Jim Morrison? Am I supposed to know?

60s rocker who like so many of his peers died of over consumption.

"You can eat your dinner, eat your pork and beans. I eat more chicken any man ever seen...."

It is a reference to a well known song. In this case chicken isn't a bird but a favorite part of the female anatomy.

In about 8 years, we'll know how well Ben did. I sure hope the stock market doesn't go UP for 8 straight years tho, THAT would be depressing.

Ok. I'm going to bed. Still have the happy wine buzz. I'm happy, so doom is just a negative Bearium particle for me now. But, I'm sure I'll recover by morning. I'll dream away the negative particles, turning them into nothingburgers and hot-air, just as the economic physics dictates.

1930s: Died of consumption
2000s: Died of over consumption

They are different radical - I was aware of that and 'chose' the words carefully. Morrison was more of a chronic slow motion overdose... I think it fits.

Yes, as a kid.

Not relevant, though. This won't manifest itself as rationing to resolve shortages, it'll be all stratospheric pricing.

" it'll be all stratospheric pricing."

Isn't this the same as inflation? You are confusing me. What are you saying?

Jim didn't write "backdoor man", and may have been the hundredth guy to perform it...

only if you claim to have even a passing familiarity with popular culture in the past century

A wonderful interlocutor betwixt these two rhymes. By the way, the name's 'racial'. I chose the word carefully.

"only if you claim to have even a passing familiarity with popular culture in the past century"

Only the first half.

I didn't know him as Jim. I knew him as Val Kilmer. I think Val lost his mind after he played Morrison.

Is anyone else reading this judgement from District Court of Southern New York regarding the Bloomberg FOIA? I'm about 1/5th of the way through, and it looks pretty juicy...

My typo - my bad. Obviously I didn't read as carefully as I wrote.

"Stratospheric prices for gas & food.... This will not be a generalized inflation"

Sure, all price changes will be different. That's always the way. But there will be a high correlation, if human nature in prior inflations is any guide. That's why I was asking you about the 1970's. When you live it, you see how people react, and thus how it operates. And you can study any number of inflation histories in a variety of countries. Significant inflation rarely, if ever, stays contained.

"this judgement from District Court of Southern New York"

Link? (I read the short Bloomberg story.)

This time it won't translate into wages, at least not for the masses. That's the key.

This time it won't translate into wages, at least not for the masses. That's the key.

It didn't last time - not enough for most people - or rust belt would have never happened. It did though.

dryfly, It is the Rot Belt now.

The divergence between wages & energy prices will be of a much higher magnitude this time around.

wired

"Forget about change, Obama does not seem to even have a real opinion on anything. Please someone point me to one example that shows he is not an empty suit. I'm willing to listen."

Sorry, can't, he is an empty suit.

"What lies on the other side of that event horizon? "

Haiti?

"Let's just say that the patriot act wasn't written in a day. "

actually, it kind of was. as were all the wonderful "signing statements" of that era.

The divergence between wages & energy prices will be of a much higher magnitude this time around.

I would expect that - and not just energy but any 'tradeable' we 'outsourced' to make way for FIRE. But that still isn't incompatible with a general inflation - just worse.

I forgot to add if the quality you look for in a Central Bank Chief is the ability to pilfer tax-payers to bailout banks and line up the pockets of bankers in the name of saving the system , then you cannot have a better choice than BIG BEN, The New Robin Hood .. who plunders the poor and gives it away to the rich. Only this guy does a very good job of it and gets accolades too!!

killben, you had me right up to the all-caps GOD summons at the end.

Edit: Oh, and I think you mis-spelled his last name.