So much for the jockeying to get the big Fed job appears to be over.
From the New York Times, Obama to Nominate Bernanke to 2nd Term as Fed Chief:
President Obama plans to nominate Ben S. Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, administration officials said Monday night.
The nomination, while expected, comes after Mr. Bernanke has had perhaps the most tumultuous term of any Fed chairman, helping to steer the economy through its greatest downturn since the 1930's. Mr. Bernanke is a Republican who was appointed by President George W. Bush.
A top White House official said Mr. Obama had decided to keep Mr. Bernanke at the helm of the Fed because he had been bold and brilliant in his attempts to combat the financial crisis and the current deep economic recession.
So, what about all of those trillions given out to institutions unknown that we cannot find out about?
Guess what, that day of reckoning maybe sooner than we think. Bloomberg (cheer, rah!) just had a judge rule in their favor Fed Must Make Public Reports on Emergency Bank Loans:
The Federal Reserve must make records about emergency lending to financial institutions public within five days because it failed to convince a judge the documents should be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
Manhattan Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska rejected the central bank’s argument that the records aren’t covered by the law because their disclosure would harm borrowers’ competitive positions. The collateral lists “are central to understanding and assessing the government’s response to the most cataclysmic financial crisis in America since the Great Depression,” according to the lawsuit that led to the ruling.
The Fed has refused to name the borrowers, the amounts of loans or the assets put up as collateral under 11 programs, saying that doing so might set off a run by depositors and unsettle shareholders. Bloomberg LP, the New York-based company majority-owned by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, sued Nov. 7 on behalf of its Bloomberg News unit.
Wow! I just hope Bloomberg releases the originals along with the obvious blockbuster story that will be written.
So now we get more of the same?
Ben, can we now have the 5% on our retirement savings we factored into our planning? Or must we labor in purgatory annother 10 years? No COLA for Social Security, but billions for your banker constituency.
To borrow a quote from a long ago 3rd party campaign, "Not a dime's worth of difference."
The ruling class always warned us against "Class Warfare." Are we there yet?
Frank T.
Frank T.
Interesting chain of events
This is very interesting. Suddenly, President Obama announces Whirlybird Ben to continue on in a second term after Bloomberg (shockingly to me, although the judge's decision is the logical one) wins their FOIA against the Fed.
Doubtless, with the upcoming congressional move to audit the Fed, any information gleaned from Bloomberg's FOIA into those mysterious trillions will impact negatively on Bernanke (strangely enough labeled as a "Great Depression expert"), thus best to move on his continuance at the official controlling bank.
And my humble prediction #1: the vast bulk of those trillions went to the usual suspects -- Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Citi and BofA.
Prediction #2 if #1 is incorrect: the vast bulk went to the private equity firms -- Blackstone Group, KKR, Carlyle Group and GS Private Equity....
Prediction #2
Which raises the question of what a central bank is for. If the Fed makes loans to private parties, what interest rate does it charge? Is Uncle Ben going to open a pawn shop for the rest of us (I have a very nice Casio watch)?
Frank T.
Frank T.
ya all saw Bloomberg winning it's FOIA request on Fed right?
I put that court win in the Bernanke is reappointed post.
They put in a Freedom of Information Act and are moving it also through the courts to find out exactly received and what happened with the $2 trillion dollars the Fed "made available" to "various institutions" during the financial crisis.
On Ben Bernanke, I'm torn. Firstly I worry about frying pan to fire and supposedly Larry Summers wanted the job, which to me is assuredly fire. Then, while I find the Fed's refusal to release information, save the financial oligarchy, was TARP even necessary, this list goes on an on...
There are a couple of things which he did right. One was to guarantee the money market funds, which created a massive run when they went to negative return...that was a crisis event and the other is to increase the money supply.
At the time I thought that was nuts but it really appears to be the right thing to do and it was so massive, I wasn't alone in thinking it was disaster, so it also makes it a fairly bold move considering the criticism.
Oh yeah, he didn't even see this entire collapse coming, that too.
Anyway, Bloomberg is moving it's way through the courts and their story/findings is going to be a bombshell assuredly.
As long as there are two honest judges left...
So we have Judge Preska and Judge Rakoff, therefore we now know we have at least TWO honest judges left in America.
Any word on a third honest judge out there?