patrick.net

They told us it was green shoots. Now its clear they were feeding us the green shits. Bernanke just confiormed the depression. Everything they have said till now has been blatant lies.

The sad thing is that todays action won't help the unemployed, just as prior action didn't. However it is fucking the 100 million of us who still have jobs. We just got a massive pay cut today. Our wages will remain flat while everything we buy doubles again. Outright terrorism....

Outsourcing, balance of trade, etc. etc. -nope. We tried QE1 and QE2-didn't work. let's try QE3.

Shudder-I guess obama is going to do more of the same for the next four years. perhaps the dollar will become so weak, that China and India will outsource their work to us?

If it ever comes to that, they will simply erect protectionist barriers.

The Fed knows who it works for. It's not the 99.9%.

QE is pre-emptive TARP. The Fed inflates a credit bubble to drive down interest rates, pays top dollar for mortgage-backed securities that no rational person would buy at anywhere near that price, then when the borrowers default it's the public who are left holding the toxic assets. Meanwhile, the FIRE industry, who make their $ off high housing prices, get paid. It's lemon socialism and crony capitalism. The big banks control 5/12 of the Fed directly, and the rest of it indirectly, and of course the Treasury (hello Timmy!). The result is debt, more debt, debt for everyone. Chase offers a credit card (really a debt card) called "Freedom." It's an Orwellian name for a debt instrument. Patrick is right, debt is slavery.

Not sure how powerful the bazooka is time time, 40 bill. is not that much, but this may prove Roberto right for a while longer. Buy a house now!! Never mind that man behind the curtain ;)

Well it is 40 billion a month and open ended. Of course it didn't work the last two times, so not really sure what they are trying to achieve?

lostand confused says

Well it is 40 billion a month and open ended. Of course it didn't work the last two times, so not really sure what they are trying to achieve?

Oh I didn't read that part - ok well then 40 bill. a month - buy all you can!!! ;)

lostand confused says

Of course it didn't work the last two times, so not really sure what they are trying to achieve?

I think the effects are weakening the dollar, cheap exports and boosting nominal GDP. The Fed's hope is that this will spur more spending, generate more hiring and therefore unemployment rate will go down.

Even though the Fed has not explicitly stated an NGDP target, it seems more willing to that idea now..

Here's a link that talks about it: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/263476/how-narrow-fed%E2%80%99s-mandate-david-beckworth

Cheeseus Sonofdog says

hey told us it was green shoots. Now its clear they were feeding us the green shits.

...or, there's a turd in the proverbial 'punch bowl.'

The thing I don't understand is what exactly the direct relationship is between MBS purchases and boosting employment? How does Ben Bernanke propose to reduce unemployment by buying up mortgage securities? Unless we're talking about unemployed brokers or MBS traders, I am not seeing how this is a boon. Enlighten me...

Ben Berneke as a kid:

Want a new drug.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pTUi5qB9LKE#!

JodyChunder says

The thing I don't understand is what exactly the direct relationship is between MBS purchases and boosting employment? How does Ben Bernanke propose to reduce unemployment by buying up mortgage securities? Unless we're talking about unemployed brokers or MBS traders, I am not seeing how this is a boon. Enlighten me...

That's a great question. Getting to the heart of the law of unintended consequences .

The problem is giving money to money center banks to shore them up isn't pump priming. The money is not getting down to the bottom rungs.

If this was real helicopter stuff, it might actually work. Like grants to entrepreneurs dispensed directly by the SBA to people with less than $200k/year incomes or better yet, small lines of credit to help small businesses with cash flow administered directly by the SBA or via Credit Unions and local banks. Banks are not pushing the money out, they are actually reducing consumer and business credit despite getting bombarded with low interest rate cash from the Fed.

Or, we can get the interest rates up in general, which will force those with cash to make an opportunity cost decision between keeping the money in Gold or low interest rate bonds vs. putting it out for interest bearing purposes. It will also set the stage for baby boomer retirement, but the equities market wouldn't like it. Who cares? The stock market is overvalued. Let's get it over with already and stop trying to stabilize prices, let it crash already FFS so we can shake out the bad investments.

I found a better one:

What can we expect ? The most powerful monetary man in the world is obligated to save the banks. Quasi Government my ass. It's ideology will devour itself.

freak80 says

rotflol

I almost thought it was Duckhead that said it. Almost.

The Fed is a private bank that can legally counterfeit money.

No need for conspiracy theories.

um, because without continued assistance from the fourth branch of the governemt, wells fargo and co. that hold all these mortgages are bankrupt! You don't believe me, ask the banks how much they'd enjoy having to mark their assets to market and the fed reneging on yet another attempt to keep the banks solvent

in the long run, the banks are all D-E-A-D DEAD. It is only thru massive intervention and gimmicktry that they are still roaming in their present zombie state

errc says

in the long run, the banks are all D-E-A-D DEAD. It is only thru massive intervention and gimmicktry that they are still roaming in their present zombie state

Yep. The same thing happened in Japan after their massive asset bubble. I think that's where the term "Zombie Bank" originated.