Aug 22 2008 10:22AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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By Nick Bajzek

Higher inflation, coupled with the financial woes we’ve already been dealing with, is definitely taking a toll on the economy and poses a great threat to our stability—this according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

He addressed a Jackson, Wyoming economic conference today with this: "Although we have seen improved functioning in some markets, the financial storm that reached gale force" around this time last year "has not yet subsided, and its effects on the broader economy are becoming apparent in the form of softening economic activity and rising unemployment," Bernanke said in a speech to a high-profile economics conference here. He also said regulators need to work on ways to assess the health of the entire financial system, rather than the condition of individual banks, Wall Street investment firms or other financial companies. 


Again, thanks Captain. 

I liken Bernake’s speeches (at least from what I’ve heard ) to John Madden’s football commentary—a reiteration of what you already know with very little analysis offered. I’ve heard nothing from him on the news, on NPR, on the web or anywhere where he has said anything but “outlook remains uncertain” when it comes to the immediate future.

I wonder what he and his cronies are going to do with the troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The mortgage giants' stocks have gotten hammered all this week and it seems a government bailout is inevitable. So what do we do with our system? Patch it up and get it humming again? Or, with The Good Captain at the helm, do we actually try and fix our policies and make some sense out of this mess?

At least Bernake acknowledges the trouble we’re in. He said one of the critical questions facing the country is how to strengthen the financial system and protect against "moral hazard," where financial companies gamble with risks because they believe the Fed or the government will ultimately bail them out. Kind of like the airlines. I’m also in favor of his stance on shoring up the Central Bank and imposing new regulations on the weasels who’ve been fleecing this country since…well, since it became a country.