How can anyone trust this guy?

Helicopter Ben Bernanke Says Everything Is Going To Be Okay

Don't worry everybody. Federal Reserve Chairman "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke says that the U.S. economy is going to be just fine, and that if it does slip up somehow the Federal Reserve is ready to rush in to the rescue. That was essentially Bernanke's message to an annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday. Bernanke insisted that even though the Federal Reserve has already cut interest rates to historic lows it still has plenty of tools that could be used to stimulate the U.S. economy if necessary. Well, considering Bernanke's track record, the "don't worry, be happy" mantra is just not going to cut it this time. After all, if Bernanke and his team were such intellectual powerhouses the "surprise" financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 would not have caught them with their pants down. The truth is that just before the "greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression" Bernanke was telling everyone that the economy was just fine. So are we going to let him fool us again?

But Bernanke insists that this time is different. This time the Federal Reserve really has got a handle on things. During his remarks at Jackson Hole, Bernanke said that the Fed will adopt "unconventional measures if it proves necessary, especially if the outlook were to deteriorate significantly."

Unconventional measures?

Could that be a thinly veiled way of saying that Helicopter Ben and his pals will do as much "quantitative easing" as they feel is necessary to keep the economy moving forward?

Unfortunately, most Americans have absolutely no idea what quantitative easing is.

Basically, when quantitative easing takes place the Federal Reserve creates money "ex nihilo" (out of thin air) and uses that money to buy stuff like U.S. government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. By pumping money into the economy like this, the hope is that banks will start lending more and people and businesses will have more money to spend.

As far back as 2002, Bernanke has been openly advocating "easy money" policies as a way to stimulate the U.S. economy out of troubled times....

"The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost."

Now, before we go on and discuss some of the problems with quantitative easing, it must be noted that the statement by Bernanke above is absolutely rife with errors.

It is absolutely frightening that someone like Bernanke has more power over the U.S. economy than any member of Congress or even the president of the United States.

First of all, the U.S. government does not issue our dollars. They are issued by the Federal Reserve.

Just pull out a dollar bill right now. It says "Federal Reserve Note" on it right at the top.

Secondly, the U.S. government cannot produce as many dollars as it wants. Whenever it wants more U.S. dollars it has to give U.S. Treasuries to the Federal Reserve in exchange.

If the U.S. government could produce as many dollars as it wants, it could just print up $13 trillion and pay off the national debt tomorrow.

But under the current system, it cannot do that. The Federal Reserve controls the currency, and the truth is that the Federal Reserve is a private central bank that is about as "federal" as Federal Express is.

Read more:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/helicopter-ben-bernanke-says-everything-is-going-to-be-okay