I officially nominate CR as a potential replacement for Bernanke.

Stock futures falling; market set to resume slide - Yahoo! Finance

Mike in Long Island wrote:

I officially nominate CR as a potential replacement for Bernanke.

"Officially"?

Wow I got the first post... You guys and girls are slipping.....

Kick Bernanke to the curb

25 State Unemployment Funds Bankrupt; Credit Card Defaults at Record Levels; Look on the Bright Side 

Hey! Look on the bright side.
The recession is over (if you happen to work at Goldman Sachs).

Why would you get rid of the perfect useful smart idiot to pin the tale on?

He was an expert on the Great Depression, so he built us a financial Imaginot Line, as a defense against it happening again...

Obama Seen as Anti-Business by 77% of U.S. Investors - Yahoo! News

Transparency in the Fed and the Health Care Bill... A wonderful Grimm's Fairy Tale

Yes but they have to be from gs like the young punk at sec. I'm sure his replacement will be the best corp. money can buy.

jo6pac wrote:

Yes but they have to be from gs like the young punk at sec. I'm sure his replacement will be the best corp. money can buy.

I thought you had to be bald to work at How many young, bald punks are out there?

Cinco-X wrote:

Well damn! I'm registered; if I'd known that, I'd've been nominatin' my @$$ off.

Remember it's Calvinball - all day every day. We can make the rules up as we go - we'll fit right in!!

Besides - instead of getting vague mutterings a la the "Maestro" if CR is running the Fed at least we'd get cool charts during Congressional testimony.

My guess: eventually Bernanke will be reconfirmed after some horse trading.

Given that Bennie is wedded to the idea that ultra-low interest rates under easy Al had nothing to do with the housing bubble, one does have to question whether he is the right man to be at the helm, unless more of the same bubblenomics is the plan. Giving up Bennie's head to the pitch fork wielding masses would fit right in with Obama's new way of operating anyway. Unfortunately, Larry Summers will be at the top of Obama's list. Good thing Authur Burns is dead.

...vive la guillotine!

Mike in Long Island wrote:

Besides - instead of getting vague mutterings a la the "Maestro" if CR is running the Fed at least we'd get cool charts during Congressional testimony.

Actually, Juvie might be more entertaining
No diss on CR, BTW

Fair Economist wrote:

He deliberately blew a bubble in the 80s to save the banks from Latin American loans.

Funny how people like to forget that bit...

Cinco X hey you know what they say 'a picture is worth a thousand words' What's a C.R. chart worth... video testimony by Jim The Realtor...

The drama! lol, hate him or love him, he backstopped the world with his unlimited budget. Uncharted territory indeed.

guy77money wrote:

A wonderful Grimm's Fairy Tale

Its "x" rated for gruesomeness, bad examples for children, incestuous relationships and gore. But, you're right! Love the analogy. Scary, very scary but no scarier than a 6 year old who can't get health care should they lose the DNA dice throw or get seriously injured, or need basic dental care or get their vision corrected well enough to read.

Basel Too wrote:

Larry Summers pines for the Fed Chair.

Can we electrify it if he does?

Mortimer Zuckerman: The Great Recession Continues - WSJ.com

Somebody's pining for some

The December jobs report has doused the hope that we were at the beginning of a sustained economic recovery.

The unemployment rate managed to hold at 10% in December only because of an extraordinary shrinkage in the labor force: Some 661,000 gave up looking for a job.

Cr, I was thinking Yellen, too!

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=518758

Shifting The Blame

Posted 01/21/2010 07:30 PM ET

Regulations: Apparently believing the best defense is a good offense, the president wasted no time after his jarring loss on medical overhaul in upping the ante on another of his signature issues — financial change.

Just as Speaker Nancy Pelosi confessed Thursday she lacked the votes to quickly move the Senate's sweeping health care bill through the House — foreclosing one way to keep hope alive on socialized medicine — President Obama approached the lectern at the Executive Office Building to drop a bombshell of his own. Training his sights back on Wall Street, he called for tougher regulations that would limit the size of banks and their ability to engage in propriety trading.

The president last year proposed a series of measures to tighten the reins on financial institutions, and the House passed a bill last month. His announcement Thursday broadens those measures, particularly by endorsing a proposal by ex-Fed Chairman Paul Volcker to restrict proprietary trading by commercial banks.

Such a limit would separate commercial banks from investment banks, a line that was blurred a decade ago by the repeal of the 1930s Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act. Without such regulations, Obama said, the financial system will continue to operate under the same rules that led to its near collapse.

But Wall Street didn't cause the collapse — government did . And this call for tougher rules is yet another attempt to escape blame. All Glass-Steagall did was let bank holding companies buy into investment banks. What undermined the financial system was a fanatical application of rules aimed at getting banks to lend as much money as possible to facilitate homeownership among minorities. (More)

Comrade Kristina wrote:

In my case they are trying to say my husband makes his pay per week times 52. The problem with that is if you take what he actually made this year it doesn't add up to that at all because he was laid off for three months. SO, that adds more income to our bottom line and decreases the benefit of the mod for us. Is this article saying what they are doing right now with us is not legal? Anyone?

Do y'all qualify without this assumption? In any event, it sounds fishy, but we haven't seen anything to indicate that these rules weren't actually written on behalf of the bank anyway.

Thanks for the update I brought this up last yr but I was crazy for saying it. I think by summer we might see this drop to 9.5 or lower because of the same problem

Clearly there isn't just ONE cause or one source to blame. They better get over finger pointing because senior congressional leadership paved the way for investment banks to do their worst. Acting in the public interest is just soooo old fashioned and wrong headed because we are more sophisticated now and don't need to consider THAT anymore.

Brooksley Born?

Ben strikes me as one of the special types of demented logicians that can prove, mathematically, that the sun does not rise. Bubble denial from the head of the Fed is just scary. If his marching army of economists cannot calculate price to income then maybe we can find someone who can set interest rate policy that has at least 1 ounce of common sense.

jo6pac wrote:

Thanks for the update I brought this up last yr but I was crazy for saying it.

No, you weren't crazy; at least not in terms of U3. I've heard from multiple sources. Didn't CR say something like that too, or was it Mish?

She is a classic ex-expert, who needs to be wished into the cornfield.

I do believe it was Mish but could be wrong. It happens all the time

Oh for shits sake can we give that tired notion a rest? - CK

Cinco hasn't read the CR backstory, CK. And he hasn't read Tanta's posts, either. That's obvious. He's clueless, but mostly harmless. I don't think he actually has a squid larva in his gut, ready to burst forth. I could be wrong.

Nanoo-Nanoo wrote:

Brooksley Born?

I was snarking; were you?

Thanks scone I didn't realize he was that new around here. I just don't see the point in posting something that has been beaten to death and found to be false well over a year ago. I'm probably being hormonal...

traderwalt wrote:

My guess: eventually Bernanke will be reconfirmed after some horse trading.

Hence, the recent comments by Bernanke regarding increased access for the GAO with respect to AIG.

Cinco-X Ya hit the nail on the button, but don't forget the dreaded -- pass the buck, hey we know these loans are horse manure but we won't be the ones holding them ...

I think Volcker or one of his clones would do pretty well. As far as I could tell, his policies to attack inflation basically stared in the face of the moaning Wall Street and said ,"I don't care". People had confidence in the value of their money and they did not have to take on excessive risk to get a reasonable rate of return. While his approach may not bring us back to 5% unemployment, should it? I think structural unemployment is higher than we think especially given that it takes impossibly cheap money (and excessive risk and massive over capacity) to achieve 5%.

Cinco, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you but I don't think you are qualified to tell either scone nor I, where we should post. If you didn't agree with the link you posted then perhaps you should note that when you post it. Otherwise it as seen as "cosigning".

Comrade Kristina wrote:
Business tells the government what to do. PERIOD.
It speaks with money, which we can unofficially call 'giving a command'.

traderwalt wrote:

My guess: eventually Bernanke will be reconfirmed after some horse trading.

I think that it will require a major tanking in the stock market for that to happen. What is the benefit for a politician to vote for him in this climate. There are both Republicans and Democrats opposing him. Deciding to re appoint him makes for a simple easily understood story that the average joe can understand. If you are J6P and you screw up you get fired. If you are a well connected Washington insider if you screw up you get rewarded. 93% of bank executives are still in their jobs, Geithner got promoted and Bernanke got reappointed. With the anger in the country it seems to me for any political operative that has to be the easiest case to make.

<ping!> {zingggggg~}

word ricochets bounce off the internet bolders

it's like I am suggesting, the trend is tilting so far, this is shaping up for a correction in the broader averages

it's like hippos mating in a twin bed

Basel Too wrote:

he is time's man of the year.

that was the kiss of death

We had to provide both as well. 2 years of returns and most recent stubs. Of course we have had to send stubs three times now as this drags out. My point is they are using the stubs to formulate our mod, not our tax returns. Why would they do that if the stubs are NOT considered acceptable to verify income? They are cheating...They told me point blank that is how they were formulating ours BTW. The reason I just had to send our final year end stubs was because we are trying to get them to use our ACTUAL income, not the paystub multiplier method. I smell something rotten in Denmark.

gabyjan wrote:

how about greed,stupidity and fear,fear of being left behind!

I'll buy that; not so much for me, but for others-

it's like I am suggesting, the trend is tilting so far, this is shaping up for a correction in the broader averages

Donkey Owedi?

Lobbyist Ben Dover wrote:

How about somebody who has successfully run a lemonade stand!

Hey! I did that! Of course my costs were zero, as my parents bought the ingredients, and mom made the stuff, and my sister worked the stand for free cuz I held her dolls hostage...

But man I was rolling in the dough! Well dimes, but dimes were worth something back then!

Comrade Kristina wrote:

Cinco, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you but I don't think you are qualified to tell either scone nor I, where we should post. If you didn't agree with the link you posted then perhaps you should note that when you post it. Otherwise it as seen as "cosigning".

The problem with liberals is they value their own right to speak, but not that of others that may disagree with them. I posted a link to a Keith Olberman rant within the last couple of weeks; do you actually think I "cosigned" with him? C'mon! Good luck with your house; I'll let you cool off for awhile-
Bye-Bye

Comrade Misean is Dope Geez I must have been the cut rate lemonade stand , only cost a nickel but we did sell penny candy - we were on wheels out of the wagon - ahhhh the 60's a great time to be a kid...

"No; but I come here because it isn't, though there are some here that would certainly like it to be. I can't wait till Rob gets back-"

True that, I think I've been banned from just about everywhere else. This site has a good community.

guy77money wrote:

Actually when my sister in law bought a house last August the mortgage company wanted to see her latest check stub to make sure she was still employed... they told her that it was a new policy... go figure after the horse bolted the barn..

Ya; they probably figured out the "give em' your brother's # to verify employment" ruse-

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

and you didn't go into finance?

I got the degrees...I'm allergic to spread sheets unfortunately...

I'm off to work. I forgot to hit the BFF poll but I'm thinking 6 today.

A go-cart with a 2 hp brigs & stratton lawn-mover gas engine powering it, and you were a made man in my neighborhood, growing up in the 1960's

Nowdays, you're going to need a business license for that lemonade stand and health inspection and you'd better make sure you fill out those tax forms.

I vote for William Black.

Lobbyist Ben Dover I suspect selling water next to a water fountain ..that would make you a prime candidate for the Fed job... Or at least a Federal regulator..

Eric wrote:

It's like having a discussion with adults.
But different.

True dat, whatever that means-

sorry, you can't save your way to prosperity

Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
I got the degrees...I'm allergic to spread sheets unfortunately...
Not that you couldn't do useful work in finance of course... I just meant that what you were doing sounded a lot like being a bankster in the past 2 decades.

1) parents bought the ingredients
2) mom actually made the lemonade
3) sister worked sales for free through extortion

Intentional or not, an excellent metaphor for the FIRE economy.

Let's say TallPaul replaces BomberBen and jacks interest rates up; way up.
What's that going to do?
rock> we are here <hard place.

Lots more pain ahead on this ride any way you cut it.

I wonder if the TBTF banks would have rushed to pay back the TARP if they saw the bank tax and Obama reg proposals on the horizon. If they have to give up the profits generated by their prop desks and hedge fund investments, the returns (losses) on their commercial and consumer banking operations are going to be a huge drain on capital (which will be enhanced under the BASEL reforms, too), and who is going to want to put the capital up for that? Shelia may need a bigger piggy bank.

Again, if you want an echo chamber, go to the DailyKOS. I didn't write any of that; I don't even follow IBD. I got the link from RealClearMarkets.com.

Cinco, dear, you need to read the backstory. You can be amusing, sometimes, but if you want to be taken seriously, you'll have to do some serious homework. "Attack dog mode" will not hide a lack of serious study and thought. And for the record, I'm not "left." Which you would know if you were really studying.

how bout someone outside the current cadre

Cinco-X wrote:

though I was a little bit nervous the other day when CR talked about deleting the link to Mish due to his politics.

I don't think that's a fair restatement of what CR said: I seriously doubt CR cares whether anybody dresses themselves in blue or red, but he wanted to make this an economics blog, not a politics blog.

Let's see we the Fed jacks up rates and housing tanks, isn't housing supposed to lead us out of the depression? I am so confused!

Cinco-X wrote:

Have any of you that have cable ever looked at Cramer as a contra-indicator?

LoL...did you catch Jon Stewart regarding Cramers predictions over the MA election? I laughed HARD. Jon Stewart for fed chair.

Let's say TallPaul replaces BomberBen and jacks interest rates up; way up.
What's that going to do? - HG

I seriously doubt he would do that. He's not an "I've got a hammer, therefore everything else is a nail" sort of guy. Personally, I'll be reading some of his works over the weekend. The Fed archives are a gold mine for research, actually.

"I've never posted anywhere else; not even at places like Redstate, where you'd think I'd feel right at home. BTW, since I've never posted elsewhere, I've never been banned, though I was a little bit nervous the other day when CR talked about deleting the link to Mish due to his politics."

You should try out different sites though, my home is irc://irc.freenode.net/##politics but I like coming to different websites and posting. Freenode ##politics, it is basically impossible to get banned, total free speech. Make no mistake total free speech can sometimes turn into a cesspool, but I'm an Internet vet. This site is almost like a chat, that is why I like it.

lol freenode #politics, the only mIRC channel that has actually raised the terror alert level.

oh by the by .........tgt spike

scone wrote:

Cinco, dear, you need to read the backstory. You can be amusing, sometimes, but if you want to be taken seriously, you'll have to do some serious homework. "Attack dog mode" will not hide a lack of serious study and thought. And for the record, I'm not "left. Which you would know if you were really studying.

Scone,
I've seen your political compass scores, and read your posts. Many of you on the left think you're mainstream, but you're not. I wasn't the attack dog in this case, and rarely am for that matter. CK attacked me.

scone wrote:

and jacks interest rates up;

why the assumption that the alternative to Bernanke has to be somebody who jacks up interest rates.?

from huff

Russ Feingold: In the News - Press Releases

" When the full Senate considers his nomination, I will vote against another term for Chairman Bernanke.”"

biochemist<

The military is still looking for a few good men.
You should join up and see the world.

Hey Juvenal, in the 60's, my neighbor had a Cushman Eagle. With me on the back we could hit 50mph. Top that.

JP wrote:

I don't think that's a fair restatement of what CR said: I seriously doubt CR cares whether anybody dresses themselves in blue or red, but he wanted to make this an economics blog, not a politics blog.

Not trying to be unfair or distort his statement. However, you'll note there haven't been many posts or replies from me on the recent senate election. I've tried to behave; it made me feel nervous, but maybe that's a good thing-

This doesn't make sense. Congress is willing to go without a head of the FRB? If they aren't going to nominate him than get someone else up there; and do it quickly!

crazyv<

I wrote "and jacks interest rates up".
I thought that was the appeal of Volcker.

what about Simon Johnson? Has anyone brought him up yet?

I' d love to see a Warren/Johnson double ticket replace Timmy and BB

question
doesnt the appointment have to come from within the fed? board of governors? member banks?
or can any tom dick or harry be appointed then confirmed by congress?

bwhahaha!!!

wait, wait...

bwhahaahahaha!!

gabyjan wrote:

doesnt the appointment have to come from within the fed? board of governors? member banks?
or can any tom dick or harry be appointed then confirmed by congress?

From the President, if I'm not mistaken-

No way man, ours were home-built with plywood and 2x4's, by the 14 year old geniuses in my neighborhood, as I could only look on longingly,, being only 6 or 7 years old at the time.

Replace him with Geithner and then slide Liz Warren into that slot. Result would be to enhance the Consumer Protection Agency (not yet created)... but I'm not sure Geithner would get confirmed.

No, she didn't, and you are. Telling people to post somewhere else is a classic internet attack. I realize you're an older guy and don't really understand netiquette, but you've crossed a line here. You're also OT and thread-jacking. Several violations of the unwritten rules. I'm telling you in a friendly way, you're out of line.

And you're getting away from the main point. You're not doing your homework, you're merely politicizing. It's sheer intellectual laziness, mere persiflage, and I expect better from you. I'm only saying this out of love.

I hesitate to post this, because I'm not trying to open another political can of worms. But I do think this kind of senatorial resume will be a winner come November...

In 1999, ***** voted against repealing the Depression-era safeguards put in place to protect businesses, investors, and consumers. In 2008, ***** voted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and in 2009 voted against authorizing more funding for TARP.

I can believe in political change inspired by fear of not getting reelected. The winds may be shifting on Capitol Hill.

cinco-x
i meant that the president would appoint someone from within the fed,
sorry i forgot that no one can read my mind,not even me

TraderWalt,
Due respect - I did not write that. I was responding to Volker. Pay attention.

"The military is still looking for a few good men.
You should join up and see the world."

I already signed all my papers, on permanent deployment in the South East.

Bit mines...hastas.

Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
Well...gosh, I don't think I'm that subtle...
You can always claim divine inspiration...

HomeGnome wrote:

I wrote "and jacks interest rates up".
I thought that was the appeal of Volcker.

That was the appeal of Volcker in the 80s when we needed high rates to break inflation. That is not the kind of environment we are in now and I don't think Volcker would raise rates severely if he were the Fed chairman today. But, he is not afraid to take the difficult and necessary steps, which sets him apart from Bernanke.

elmo......behave!

scone wrote:

No, she didn't, and you are. Telling people to post somewhere else is a classic internet attack.

Scone,
This is what she said:

Comrade Kristina (profile) wrote on Fri, 1/22/2010 - 10:23 am
Oh for shits sake can we give that tired notion a rest? Anyone posting to this blog that still believes that bullshit hasn't been paying attention...Yeah, those poor little banks didn't want to give those loans the big mean government forced them to. The problem with the right is they have the incestuous relationship between government and business backwards. Business tells the government what to do. PERIOD.

That is an attack, not anything I said. Bu-bye-

guy77money wrote:

Of course in hind site the fed should have hiked interest rates to deflate the housing bubble....

I'm not that worried about interest rates because for the most part the process is transparent.
I'm against the under table dealings that happen at the fed reserve. Ben's under hand dealings have been too big to ignore.

Warren is my choice too as she also sees the legal backside of the web better then BB. I just don't know if I'd want her in BB or Timmy's slot.

Simon Johnson also sprang to mind along with Joseph Stiglitz.

There are no easy, pleasant answers. Sometimes the best way out of the valley is through the swamp-

Hello Wall*Street, (Hello, hello.)
How’d things go for you today?
Don’t you miss liquidity.
Since it up and walked away?

And I’ll bet you dread to spend another lonely morn with me,
But loan-lie Wall*Street, I’ll keep you company.

Hello window, (Hello, hello.)
Well, I see that you’re still here.
Aren’t you lonely,
Since our dear departed defenestrated & disappeared?

Well look here, is that a drop, or corner pain?
Now don’t you try to tell me that’s it’s rain.

Credit went away and left us all a loan, the way it planned.
Guess we’ll have to learn to get along without it if we can.

Hello ceiling, (Hello, hello.)
I’m gonna stare at you a while.
You know I can’t sleep,
So won’t you watch the bear market with me a while?

We gotta all stick together or else I’ll lose my mind.
I gotta feelin’ it’ll be down a long, long time.
(Hello, hello Wall*Street)

YouTube - Willie Nelson Hello Walls

I'm interested in what Bernanke or his replacement would DO to get us out of this mess. Solutions, people.

I'm not sure there is any "heroic" solution. It took years to get us into this, with millions of "rational actors" contributing to the situation worldwide. No one person can fix it. But I'm willing to defer to Tanta's notions of cramdowns as one way forward. That may be part of the deal that gets hammered out of this before the elections. In any case, I'm dead certain interest rates won't rise much, and I'm re-arranging my portfolio this weekend to account for that.

Why does a banking cartel need to be lead by anyone other than someone who would carry water for a banking cartel?

scone wrote:

I'm only saying this out of love.

thank you for not putting a smiley behind it

crazyv wrote:

thank you for not putting a smiley behind it

You're welcome.