. . .
K “What do Nomi Prins, Terry Gross, Yves Smith, Lynette Zang, Catherine Austin Fitts, Nicole Foss, Ellen Brown, Danielle DiMartino Booth, Brooksley Born, Sheila Bair, Janet Tavakoli, Gail Tverberg, Gretchen Morgenson, Michelle Singletary and Lionel Shriver have in common?”
J “ . . . How many guesses?”
K “Who’s counting? Take your time. The face-off does not fall for an hour.”
J “ . . . They all have vowels in their names.”
K “To a person. Nothing gets by you.”
J “Nothing. Not. a. chance.”
. . .
J “And consonants, too. Two consonants, too.”
. . .
K “No ‘Québec’ in any of the names.”
. . .
K “What do Allan Greenspan, Philip Gramm, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulsen, and Robert Rubin have in common?”
J “They too have vowels in their names, but they never should have been allowed to get near the bowels of the body politic.”
K “They never should have been allowed to have any proximity to the bourse, the boardroom or the blackboard.”
. . .
[See the e-commentary at “The Kids (At The Fed) Are Not Alright (January 30, 2012)”.]
Bumper stickers of the week:
Girls are alright
From available sources, Ben Bernanke made the following statements and prognostications:
July 2005: “We’ve never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis.”
November 2005: “With respect to their safety, derivatives, for the most part, are traded among very sophisticated financial institutions and individuals who have considerable incentive to understand them and to use them properly.”
March 2007: “All that said, given the fundamental factors in place that should support the demand for housing, we believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will likely be limited, and we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.”
October 2007: “It is not the responsibility of the Federal Reserve – nor would it be appropriate – to protect lenders and investors from the consequences of their financial decisions.”
January 2008: “The U.S. economy has a strong labor force, excellent productivity and technology, and a deep and liquid financial market that is in the process of repairing itself.”
And last but definitely not least when it comes to misleading and dangerous drivel:
January 2008: “The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.”
e-commentary 