Reporting from Santiago, Chile
I really hate to beat a dead horse, but I wouldn’t be doing my job for you if I didn’t point out some of the most intellectually dishonest, self-aggrandizing Bernanke-speak to come out of the Fed Chairman’s testimony yesterday:
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“[The Federal Reserve has] 25 years of success in keeping inflation low and stable, not just in the United States but around the world.”
Translation: “I have not set foot in a grocery store or gas station in decades.”
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“Our estimates are that we’ve helped create many private sector jobs, government jobs to support the economy quite significantly.”
Translation: “In my sole discretion where I get to completely ignore all data points I don’t like, I am doing a heck of a job.”
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“I am very much in favor of getting our fiscal house in order but I think it’s a long run issue and I would be supportive of a less front-loaded set of measures.”
Translation: “Feel free to continue kicking the can down the road.”
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“The best way to get interest rates up is to not raise them too quickly.”
Translation: “No matter what, I’m going to continue printing money and justify it with puzzling drivel.”
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“I don’t see any sign that that’s happening (the U.S. dollar losing status as world’s reserve currency).”
Translation: “I pay absolutely no attention to what’s going on in Russia, China, the Middle East, or the gold market.”
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“[S]avers have many hats. They may own fixed income instruments, like bonds, but they also may own stocks or a house or a business. . . And those values have gone up, the stock market has roughly doubled, as you know, in the past few years.”
Translation: “In order to not get eaten alive by inflation, I will force responsible savers to assume unnecessary risks in an overinflated stock market that has just now, finally, reached its nominal highs from 2007 thanks to my money printing.”
I know this goes without saying, but entrusting this man with your life savings is a dangerous course of action. I strongly urge you to consider diversifying into precious metals, productive farmland, or even a digital currency like Bitcoin.
After all, you know the old saying– it’s time to be very concerned when the politicians and bureaucrats tell you to not be concerned.