The Insanity Goes On

I do not watch the Saturday business shows on TV. I tire very early with a bunch of people sitting around trying to shout each other down, each one knowing that they alone are the font of all financial wisdom. But if you are flipping around the news channels looking for new news you can't help but pick up on bits and pieces. Sometimes it is worth a pause to listen. Most of these people are smart and knowledgeable. One at a time, most of them are worth listening to. In a group, they are just noise.

Lately there has been a lot of talk about the stock market, quantitative easing, and interest rates. This is what I have been referring for some time as the Bernanke Bubble. Early last week rumors were out there that Ben Bernanke was actually going to slow down the printing presses and let interest rates come up a bit. Which is actually a good idea.

Immediately the Dow dropped. The rich folks started screaming that they weren't getting richer fast enough and good old loyal Ben couldn't kiss their hem (so to speak) fast enough. He assured all concerned that he didn't mean it. He was in for the long slog. And just because his monetary policy has not helped the broad economy, he was just happy as a pig in muck on a hot summer day, to accommodate his rich friends and those that donate large sums of money to Barack Obama.

Now, getting back to the financial pundits on TV. The best of them all seem to agree that the Bernanke Bubble will burst. When it will burst seems to be the question at hand. Based on the rumors, I said mid-summer. Others say anytime out to five years. I fully admit that five years is a possibility. The problem being, the longer this financial farce goes on the bigger the explosion will be.

The administration will have spent eight years not fixing the economy. Fewer people are gainfully employed. The middle class will shrink even more. The dollar will be worth next to nothing. And the non-rich American people (most of us) will suffer as hasn't been seen since the "Great Depression". Don't kid yourself, Bernanke knows this. He may be a tool but he is not a fool.

That is the reason that he put out rumors that there would be changes come mid-summer. He was right to do that. Better to take the pain in small pieces now than suffer the ravages of a complete blowup of the economy at sometime in the future. I actually respect him for trying. I know that he must be under enormous pressure. When the administration's economic policy has been failing for four and one half years, it is not time to double down. 

I believe the next four years are the most financially dangerous that our country has seen. I will say again, if our country is to survive as we know it, we need more statesmen in Washington and far fewer politocrats. What is a politocrat you ask? A politocrat is part of a group of politicians who's sole aim is to gather power in order to rule.  And more and more of the people we send to Washington are politocrats.