Ben Stein Tells Rick Perry to 'Get Some Moderation in His Speech' and Economics Lessons
Economist Ben Stein had some harsh words for Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on "CBS Sunday Morning."
Responding to comments the Texas governor made earlier in the week concerning Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Stein said, "I hope he'll get some moderation in his speech, and some lessons in economics, and soon" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BEN STEIN: I was going to leave you alone for this month and just spend it on my boat up at Lake Pendoreille in North Idaho, a mountain lake where ospreys soar and where I feel at peace. But Governor Rick Perry of Texas - possibly the nation's next President - has shocked me out of my mountain reverie.
A few days ago, Governor Perry said in campaigning in Iowa that it would be something akin to "treason" for the head of the Federal Reserve Board, Professor Ben Bernanke, to "print" more money between now and Election Day. That, said Gov. Perry, would only reduce the purchasing power of Americans.
Now, I like Gov. Perry. I agree with him on almost every social issue. But may I respectfully offer him a lesson in economics? This economy is stuck in a cruelly slow recovery from a recession that started on Bush 43's watch. Mr. Obama, a likeable man, is trying to get the economy moving again. Mr. Bernanke, who has made many mistakes at the Fed, is also trying desperate measures to get the economy moving again.
One of the measures the Fed is using is to increase the money supply or what Gov. Perry would call "printing money." Typically this is a helpful move, although it hasn’t been lately. It's not a radical move. It's not anywhere near a "treasonous" move. It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation.
The idea is to make money cheaper so businesses will borrow and then invest. Frankly, once again, it has not worked so far. But it is an orthodox, classic move. It is a move by a man, Chairman Ben Bernanke, who wants to help his country recover.
To call Chairman Bernanke - a patriot doing his best for his country - "treasonous" is a serious mistake. Gov. Perry is new to national politics. But he's in a way a star, and I can see him someday in the Oval Office. I hope he'll get some moderation in his speech, and some lessons in economics, and soon.
I've been a fan of Stein's for years, but I think he's offbase here.
When he said, "It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation," that's certainly not what dollar and commodity traders have been saying.
With gold at all-time highs, and the dollar trading at multi-year lows against most other currencies, professional investors are indeed betting on a serious inflationary spiral.
Does that mean they're right? Certainly not. But there are many on Wall Street who believe the monetary policies of the Fed are without question causing a decline in the value of the dollar and a rise in most commodities prices that will indeed lead to inflation.
Perry is by no means alone in this view; if he needs some lessons in economics, so do all the people around the world buying gold and shorting the dollar.
As for "moderation in his speech," we now live in a nation where leading Democrats and members of the media refer to huge portions of the population as terrorists, thugs, and hostage-takers.
If that is acceptable, a presidential candidate accusing the Fed chairman of treasonous acts should be as well.
When folks in the media take a stand against the constant invective aimed at conservatives and especially members of the Tea Party, then they can tell politicians to tone done their rhetoric.
Until that happens, all's fair in love, war, and politics.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
→ More cake! More circus
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:22pm.
Having realized Americans might squeal if their life's savings were stripped from their accounts, the FED toys with diluting those savings for its own redistributive purposes.
Ben's right. Nothing treasonous about stealing your savings.
Of course there's nothing treasonous about child rape either.
Final question, Ben. Did Adolph Hitler do something treasonous? What was it? When did he do it?
More clowns!
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:20pm.
A quick note: There is a very good case that can be made for the proposition that Hitler did plenty that was treasonous, but that's a topic for another day.
But, by all means, let's ratchet up the rhetoric per Noel's advice. Maybe Perry should double down on Stein and call HIM a traitor and a rapist. I'm sure there are some appropriate economic analogues which could be found to justify it, and it would inject some much needed pizazz into our political discourse.
Jer
→ I'd given up hope
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:57pm.
I'd given up hope of flushing you out today, Jer.
I didn't realize I was being rhetorically ratchetous. My point, like yours that much of what Hitler did was treasonous, is that in the eye of the beholder, a lot can be construed as treasonous.
You may not agree selling children into slavery is treasonous, but another may observe you're selling the country's future. Once bought, those children and grandchildren become the property of new masters.
I used Hitler as an example because, to an extent, his rise was a result of repressive reparations, and a policy of printing money that is not entirely unlike that of Ben Bernanke.
You, in typical Jer fashion, have determined the Weimer Republic (redux) is an impossibility because we are, after all, talking about Socialism rather than National Democrat Socialism.
OOPS, did I do that?
Is it treasonous...
Submitted by retrocon on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 2:07pm.
Is it treasonous to continuously violate the clearly stated and unambiguous meaning of a power granted to congress in Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution?
Keep in mind, it doesn't matter what the federal reserve act says, the power to coin money and determine the value thereof can only be removed from congress and placed outside of it's scope through constitutional amendment, just as the congress cannot pass a law to take away your right to blame Bush for all the worlds problems. They would have to amend the constitution to do that!
Congress has and always has had oversight and complete control, it cannot delegate that to any "independent" central banking committee with a simple law. No more than it can delegate the right to regulate speech through a law (notwithstanding those of you who think the FCC can force fairness doctrines and the like).
Ben, some humble advice:
Submitted by lsudolemite on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:28pm.
If you have to follow every one of your points in defense of Obama/Bernanke with "although it hasn't worked yet", then maybe, just maybe, there's something wrong with what they're doing.
I see I’m not the only one
Submitted by Reaver on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:28pm.
I see I’m not the only one getting sick and tired of this one way street the media calls civility. After all the name calling we just endured during the debt ceiling debate I’m in the mood for some old playground name calling.
Agreed wholeheartedly, Reaver!
Submitted by ConservaSerb on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 7:34pm.
Phuggem. Every single one of `em. And if they don't like that . . . phuggem some more.
They started this crap and I'm not going to sit here eating bon-bons and lifting my pinkie when I sip my cup o' tea.
No, sir.
They wanna call ME . . . who loves this country more than my parents', grandparents', great-grandparents', et al, home countries . . . I got something for them.
A big . . . fat . . . PHUGG . . . YOU, you dirty rotten liberal, commie bastards.
A wise & frugal government, which shall leave men free 2 regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. T. Jefferson
Ok Ben, you claim that
Submitted by ThePickle on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:36pm.
Ok Ben, you claim that printing money was "typically helpful".....then go on to admit that it HAS NOT in fact been helpful lately.
So it sounds to me like you are advocating doing MORE of something that you yourself have admitted hasn't been helpful lately.
As to your statement that "It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation,", it seems to be loaded with uncertainty and qualifiers, making it clear that your statement is more a bit of wishful thinking rather than confident commentary.
The only thing I MIGHT agree with you is the use of the word "treasonous" may have been a poor choice of words from excitable candidate, passionate about his message. But given the vitriol and outright hate Conservatives have had slung at them in the last decade or so, I for one can hardly fault him to much.
→ That was my point, too.
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:47pm.
Though the actions of the Norway mass murderer, or even Adolph Hitler, weren't necessarily treasonous, why point it out?
If Bernanke has an intention contrary to bringing down the governemtn, it's not treason, though the result may be the same.
Obama, on the other hand, is not averse to forced forfeiture of the treasure of private Americans.
No middle ground?
Submitted by E.S.Blofeld on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:37pm.
Pick a side and let the battle begin? Or let it continue?
"When folks in the media take a stand against the constant invective aimed at conservatives and especially members of the Tea Party, then they can tell politicians to tone done their rhetoric."
I think you forgot a "their" in the sentence. As in "...then they can tell THEIR politicians..."
Here is Ben Stein as a conservative saying to tone it down...why not listen to him? He's not a lib shaking a finger at a conservative. He is telling HIS politician from HIS side to tone it down. The problem begins as you have pointed out in your opinion of his comment being "off-base".
No middle ground, just continued invective.
Ernst
"Isn't it pretty to think that way?"-EH
Aww, geez-weve lost another one!
Submitted by NJRightWinger12 on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:44pm.
Yeah, lets diss EVERY damn Republican candidate that comes down the pike! Why does each "conservative" feel a need to rip into EVERY new prospect for President, yet theyre strangely silent when O'Bozo does another screw-up? We dont need these phony RINO "pundits" anymore! Goodbye Ben, dont let the door hit your fat, rich ass on your way out! Stein? Stein?
Perry was wrong about
Submitted by MikeB on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 4:44pm.
Perry was wrong about printing more money being treasonous, but Stein needs to get some economics lessons soon! Ben Stein, being an economist should know better than uttering such stupidity. Here's some economic history, Ben: before WW1, one Austrian Mark bought one loaf of bread. After WW1, Austria was forced to pay war reparations, so they turned on the printing presses and "printed more money". The result of all this stimulus in a weak economy was that a loaf of bread ended up costing one billion Austrian Marks. That was one hell of a stimulus, wasn't it Ben? As an exercise for the student, look up what happened to the value of the currency in Argentina in the 1970s and that of Zimbabwe today. (Here's a hint: history tends to repeat itself.)
It doesn't really matter that instead of turning on a printing press, the government just adds some zeroes to the end of the balance of an account in a computer somewhere, any time currency is created out of hard vacuum with no concurrent increase in output of goods and services, you end up with more "too many dollars chasing too few goods", which is one of the simple definitions of inflation ... every time, without fail, Ben.
Whats Up??
Submitted by KornKing on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:05pm.
Ben hit his head on something?
meet me at the mission at midnight
Stein has been turning to a
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:10pm.
Stein has been turning to a raging liberal for over a year now.
They finally got to him. Maybe it's photos, or something.
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
I think so too!
Submitted by SheilaK on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:53pm.
I feel the same! He's edging towards the dark side and I can't figure out why!
Ben Stein's Drift
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 10:56pm.
Even in his old columns, when he sounded fairly conventionally conservative, Stein frequently hinted at a sense of self-guilt about "having so much when others didn't" - which, in retrospect, sounds a lot like many rich liberals. I think his support for higher taxes on the rich and general drift towards the left is some misplaced way of assuaging his feelings of "guilt".
Show business
Submitted by MrLuigi on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:07pm.
I'll stipulate that Perry's use of the word treasonous may have been ill advised, I'll also take note of Stein's calls earlier this year for higher taxes on the "rich." I think Mr. Stein has been in show business for too long, it would seem that his liberal friends are rubbing off on him.
Ill-advised?
Submitted by ConservaSerb on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 7:44pm.
No more so than calling the Tea Partiers terrorists. How about when Soetoro ridicules conservatives?
Naw, count me in. The bastards in the UnHoly Commie administration ARE traitors. They're knowingly and intentionally trying to harm this country. I don't want them in the back seat . . . I want them dragged from the rear bumper over a gravel road. With lots of broken glass. And some road kill that ends up stuck in their mouths.
A wise & frugal government, which shall leave men free 2 regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. T. Jefferson
I like Ben Stein, but
Submitted by djwolf12 on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:08pm.
if he wants to give advice on moderation and civility in speech he needs to tell that to everyone that works at M.S.S.R. (MSNBC).
Clearly ILLEGAL ALIEN is not
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:09pm.
Clearly ILLEGAL ALIEN is not the correct term.
The correct term is SHADOW DEMOCRAT VOTER
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
What planet is he on??
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:13pm.
Um, cruelly slow recovery? Not seeing it here, Stein. But what's happening to this country IS cruel, especially with printing more money. Case in point, the cost of gold per ounce is set to go UP again, right now it's sitting at around 1800 an ounce. It was just a couple of years ago that it was 500 an ounce. So yeah, more money, less value, gold costs more. And the dirty dark secret? They are talking about gold going up to probably 2000 to 2500 an ounce. That means the value of the dollar will go down even further because of this talk about printing more money.
Maybe Gov Perry might have used the wrong word when he said it was treasonous, but the actions of the Fed certainly are treasonous. Driving this country into debt especially on purpose is an act of treason. And who does the Fed report to? Soetoro.
Stein, you're a has-Ben.(for those of you in Rio Linda, that equals with "has-been.")
Go away.
-Jon
Hardly a conservatifve
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:15pm.
Stein got his start in the Nixon administration. You can say a lot about Nixon, but if you called Nixon a conservative when it came to matters of economics, you would be mistaken. Stein can be an asset for Republicans and conservatives, but he tends to get squishy and show his "Country Club Blue Blood" Republican side when the going is rough.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
I used to believe Ben Stein had some brains
Submitted by TheHistorian on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:23pm.
However, if he chastises Rick Perry and lets Barack Obama go on the same items (no economics knowledge, no moderation in tone) then Ben, you are just a hack. Too bad you chose this battle to screw your reputation.
Dennis Prager
Ben Studied Economics When They Did Not Understand Money
Submitted by Avitar on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 10:07am.
Economics has certian ideas about money. You can push with a stick or you can pull with it. If all of your case studies call for pulling then you don't find out that you have a rope until you try to push. Ben is in a panic because he realizes how many of our Governing structures are based on us having a stick.
What we have is rope and no zero interest rate from the Fed will freeze that that rope stiff. When it was pointed out to Keynes that over the long run price adgustments would make hash of his methods Keynes said that "in the long run we are all dead." Governments and Universities accepted his theory which was based on historical cases where pricing information moved by sailing ships and stage coatches. In the age when pricing information moves via the ipod and the Internet Keynes "long run" happens three time between breakfast and lunch.
Now we ask Ben to swim out to an island of stability over the horizen where he has never been, of course he is afraid.
Ben is being "Expelled"
Submitted by E.S.Blofeld on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:31pm.
Poor Ben...here's the door. Buh-bye!
Ernst
"Isn't it pretty to think that way?"-EH
LOL
Submitted by JustAl on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:40pm.
Why is it that "toilet paper" was the first thing I thought about when I read your subject line?
Run, Ben, Run!
Submitted by JustAl on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:40pm.
Remember the show, "Ben Stein's Money"?
Well, it's time for him to put it where his mouth is. Come on Bennie, cowboy up and take some responsibility along with that influence. I realize it would be damned hard for you to decide what initial to put after your name of course.
Ben Stein needs to put a cork in it
Submitted by SheilaK on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 5:53pm.
I used to really Like Ben but lately he seems to be edging towards the dark side. Kind of like Arianna Huffington did.
Whatever. Rick Perry is a breath of fresh air that isn't afraid to call a spade a spade.
This is what Americans are hungering for.
Ben Stein was taught an economics lesson by Peter Schiff...
Submitted by Bill C on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 6:08pm.
after mocking him too. Rick Perry should take Stein's advice like he would this advice he gave in 2007 "Merril Lynch is an astonishingly well run company". Some people will never learn from true small government people it seems.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw
Good Video
Submitted by stratman on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 6:39pm.
The snark from some of those opinionistas is hard to stomach given what we now now. That long-haired smartass Tom Adkins and the Teflon-Don wannabee Mike Norman are jerks.
during the debt debate
Submitted by almostacowboy on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 6:41pm.
Ben was pushing the "taxes (revenue) must be increased" line.
Yo, Ben . . .
Submitted by ConservaSerb on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 7:38pm.
DumbOx Soetoro claimed he had a "majority" of the finest economic minds in the country advising him what to do 3 years ago.
Where did THAT get him . . . er . . . us?
Why don't you tell us EXACTLY what fine economic moves this communist, er, socialist, er . . . wait . . . FAR LEFT . . . administration has made that you agree with. And the ones you disagree with. And then compare them to "economics" black letter rules.
Stein? Stein? Stttteeeeeein? Anyone? Except for Jer. Let's not waste bandwidth.
A wise & frugal government, which shall leave men free 2 regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. T. Jefferson
Ben Stein and Rick Perry
Submitted by wdvander on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 8:05pm.
Stein is one of those blue-blood, northeaster republicans that were excited about all the spending that went on during W's administration. He and Karl Rove are of the same cloth and working to undermine a Rick Perry administration. Perry would bring to Washington a spending plan as close to a Ron Paul plan as we could get. Could you imagine Ron Paul as sec. treasury? You think our nation's finances would be taken in a different direction? Ben Stein needs to go to his house on the Pacific, in Lake Tahoe where his boat is or New York and stay away from the conservative movement!!!
I watched Karl Rove on Fox News the other night.
Submitted by jawebster1 on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 10:42pm.
I was surprised to learn that he actually likes Rick Perry. In fact, he says he was the one who convinced him to change parties and become a Republican. To say that Karl Rove is working to undermine a Rick Perry administration may be just another one of those Rovian legends built on untruths and distortions. (Usually propagated by Democrats, but sometimes by Republicans, as well.)
The Fed was created by Congress. The Fed can be desolved by...
Submitted by Controse on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 8:32pm.
Congress. Fed policies benefit two segments of our country only. Those two are Federal government and large money-center banks. It prints money to keep interest rates artificially low to maintain the fiction that the Treasury is not bankrupt. It buys worthless mortgage backed securities to maintain the fiction that the money-center banks are not bankrupt.
One question Ben. What rhetoric would accurately describe the situation? If destroying your country's currency isn't traitorous what is it?
Mr Stein:
Submitted by Comrade Jim on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 8:59pm.
Your Washington centric view gives you away.
NO politician, least of all Obama, can "get the economy moving again." Nor can any Fed Chairman, least of all Bernanke. They are the ones who wrecked this economy.
Citizens out in the country far outside of Washington are the ones who move the economy. And they do quite nicely when the government doesn't have its boot on their neck as this government does. The nation would do just fine if Obama and Bernanke went on permanent vacation and took their boots with them.
Sometimes one can only laugh
Submitted by TerryWest on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 9:02pm.
Sometimes one can only laugh at the absurd rhetoric coming from these media sloths, he was shocked out of his insulated cocoon upon hearing a Republican use the word treason after what? floating in his cocoon as months of verbal abuse, slander and out right lies re the Tea party and Republicans flew right over him?
Do Idaho a favor Mr Stein, keep canceling those trips, your true reverie is on your personal man made island called hypocrisy.
Gee what side is Ben on?
Submitted by Radical1979 on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 9:45pm.
With this comment, Mr. Obama, a likeable man, Stein shows that he is not at all impartial. When does a president's likeability have anything to do with the economy? And Stein doesn't know Bernanke's motives for increasing the money supply. I, for one, believe it has more to do with paying down the enormous debt BO has given us than helping the economy.
What happened to Ben Stein? He used to be a good...
Submitted by jawebster1 on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 10:34pm.
guy, but no more. He has crossed over to the other side. It's reminiscent of Ariana Huffington who, believe it or not, was once considered to be a strong Conservative. Too bad. Too bad for him and too bad for US.
RINO
Submitted by Jerry Mack on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 10:39pm.
I have watched this guy for years. For as I am concerned he has always been less than a conservative. I think the term is Big Government? Republican. More popular term is RINO.
I never thought of him as a RINO until recently. All I know...
Submitted by jawebster1 on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 10:50pm.
is, I used to agree with him whenever I saw him in television. Now, when I see him, I emphatically disagree with him. He might as well call himself a Democrat from now on.
I can be fooled. I once thought Tiger Woods was a great guy as well as a great golfer.
Sein is liberal hack, he
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 12:00am.
Sein is liberal hack, he feels guilty but no so guilty that he is willing to give up his, he's hoping you'll give up yours instead.
He has been exposed many times on the American Spectator board, he is a liberal obama voting Jew.
"Mr. Bernanke, who has made
Submitted by dscott on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 1:09am.
"Mr. Bernanke, who has made many mistakes at the Fed, is also trying desperate measures to get the economy moving again.
One of the measures the Fed is using is to increase the money supply or what Gov. Perry would call "printing money." Typically this is a helpful move, although it hasn’t been lately. It's not a radical move. It's not anywhere near a "treasonous" move. It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation."
Sorry Ben, but you are way off base here. Ask the people who controlled the money supply of the Weimar Republic (post WWI Germany), Argentina, Mexico and Zimbabwe what their rationale was to print money which ultimately led to hyper inflation, I believe most likely the same reasons would be given as you just gave. Printing money as a means to expand the economy without conmensurate economic activity is ruinous and breeds inflation. Just because the jiggered CPI doesn't show it, doesn't mean there isn't inflation, e.g. food and fuel. The value of the Dollar has dropped some 30% since Obama took office in January 2009, this was a deliberate act to prime the export industry and minimize imports, not a very neighborly thing to do to your world allies, but I forgot, the US is just one nation among many, we have only our own self interest to promote... Which is why Obama complains about the Chinese pegging the Yuan to the Dollar, he can't pull the same trick on them as our traditional friends. Nice guy, huh?
No, printing money in vast sums it is not a normal response. You just admitted it was a desperation move. In what universe is deperate and normal equivalent?
Your entire missive discounted the real factors in creating the current Depression we are in. Those real factors are: 1. ObamaCare new expansive cost structure to labor utilization, 2. Obama's use of the EPA threatening businesses with uncertain outcomes of expense to their operations to the point there is no assurance a profit can be made, 3. Obama and the Democrats repeated threats to impose more taxes that drain the source of capital formation - profits, 4. Frank - Dodd insane regulatory expense, 5. Obama's destruction of the Debtor Financing priority in Bankruptcy via intimidation tactics of first in line bond holders. 6. Obama's insistance on blocking efforts of domestic oil and gas production (despite the current increase in rig counts & fracking) to harm of potentially millions of domestic energy jobs. All these factors plus more and YET YOU DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO HOLD OBAMA ACCOUNTABLE, BEN!
What would be considered treasonous in the hyperbole given by Perry is the idea Bernanke would sacrifice the country with further money printing in a futile attempt to save Obama's failed presidency. IF YOU PROCEED WITH QE3 YOU ARE NO FRIEND OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHOSE LIFETIME INVESTMENTS YOU PERSONALLY WOULD BE DEVALUING.
Bernanke/The Fed was under no obligation to purchase Treasury bills and notes to float the insane spending of the Democrat Controlled Congress and the Democrat POTUS. Had they refused to engage in the straw purchases via the Banks, this calamity could have been avoided. Interest rates on government securities would have shot up forcing Congress to reign in on wasteful spending that helped no one but the Democrats campaign contributors like GE.
Audit the Fed and Prosecute the Embezzelers
Submitted by RogerCfromSD on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 1:06am.
What is Stein worried about? It's not as if the treasonous bastards in the Fed will get what they deserve. So, who cares if someone calls them treasonous?
And, when the hell did Stein become a liberal!?
BTW - BENGold has now topped
Submitted by dscott on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 1:30am.
BTW - BEN
Gold has now topped $1870+ per oz!!!! http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/futures/
The Market has spoken. But money printing is normal?
Here's an example of devaluing the Dollar (against the Yen) since 2009: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=USDJPY=X&t=2y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
Further proof, here is the Dollar (against the Swiss Franc) since 2009:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=USDCHF=X&t=2y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
This is what money printing gets you Ben. Pull your head out of the sand! Only an incompetent government official advocates and encourages the printing of money which results in a weak Dollar, i.e. devaluation. This is exactly what Jimmy The IDIOT Carter did in the 1970s, I remember it well. Nincompoop, moron, idiot, boob are all proper descriptors of those who advocate such policies.
Once the rest of the world accepts the idea those running the US are clueless and powerless to stop the money printing, they will dump the Dollars they are holding and we will in short order be experiencing 10%+ annual inflation. But hey, the value of your house will go up and your mortgage will no longer be underwater. Mission Accomplished!
Noel, I would like to point something out.
Submitted by dscott on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 2:18am.
Lately, liberals have been whining that US Corporations have been sitting on $1.5 trillion in cash instead of investing it in plant expansion. The reasons for not investing I already gave on this thread, but the location of the money seems to be a mystery to these financial incompetents. Where does a corporation hold their cash? In money markets, mutual funds, CDs and other investments holding a guaranteed NAV of $1. Now ask yourselves the question, what do these $1 NAV guaranteed accounts have in common to ensure that liquidity???? Triple A rated paper. What are the sources of AAA rated paper? American Corporations (only 5 of which issue such rated commercial paper) such as MicroSoft and the US government.
Does anyone seriously think 5 US Corporations cumulatively have issued $1.5 trillion in AAA rated commercial paper? But the US government has issued over $2.5 billion in Treasury Bills and Notes which due to their short term nature have not gotten the downgrade to AA status. Use your critical thinking skills, where did all the cash go? The answer: To finance the spendthrift US government shortfall of $1.4+ trillion a year.
To those of you who want to argue CDs issued by banks, think again, the banks have engaged with the Fed in straw purchases of Treasuries using BORROWED money from the Fed who leant them FRESHLY PRINTED money at a quarter (0.25) of a percent. What do you think the banks are doing with the money they take in deposits from Corporations paying out a paultry interest rate? They buy Treasuries, Notes and Inflation protected Bonds...from the US Government.
Ben Stein reminds me of that Batman character: TwoFace....
Submitted by thescoots on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 7:40am.
He spouts economic principles when he is on say, Fox Business programs....with a dash of dry humor....but then, when he is on mainstream TV being interviewed...he is all Hollywood...Bueller? Bueller? He has made a point of criticizing conservative candidates of late...but has avoided commenting on the menu prices at Martha's Vineyard....for some strange reason.
I wonder when I'll reach the
Submitted by Semus on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 9:28am.
I wonder when I'll reach the level of sophistication Ben Stein has reached. I guess I will know this, when I can that a man who has complete disdain for his country, the culture, most of the people, and the rule of law is a likeable man. I'm just a rube.
Stein has either switched sides, always hidden his true beliefs, or he's trying to get another gig in Hollywood this is the most likely.
Ben Stein Has Never Been Able To Pick Investments
Submitted by Avitar on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 9:42am.
He has been recommending index funds for ten years, the only ten years that index funds have not kept up with inflation. His dad served in Government positions at times when the United States did not do so well either.
Sorry Ben but your knowledge just does not come together when we need it. I will look elsewhere for sound economic advice. I am really bothered by the trillions of dollars that the Federal Reserve has extended as loans to foreign banks. I have a hard time believing the fifteen trillion dollar figure.
I remember that the 1929 crash began when one German Bank went under. I remember the Mexican default in the seventies. The current exposure is to me, incalculable. I never took graduate school economics and just don’t see how to evaluate this situation.
Using engineering stability analysis it is a "stop the machine before it tears itself apart" situation.
Once a Nixonian, always a Nixonian
Submitted by frank14 on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 10:28am.
I await Ben's call for wage and price controls.
Have Conservatives Begun to lose their minds???
Submitted by stage9 on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 11:28am.
I'm seeing more liberalism creep into Fox News. (What's wrong with that? If I wanted to watch a mindless liberal give his opinion I have many options outside of Fox.) I'm seeing spineless Republicans waving the white flag and sounding more and more like liberals. I'm seeing Conservatives insulting their own. Get it together folks. You're cowardice is showing!
And for the record, Ben, I think liberals are WAAAAAAY beyond treason....I would suggest they present a clear and present danger to the United States of America.
Call it extreme. I don't really care anymore. Call it racist. I don't give a flying flip.
Frankly, I consider RINO Republican cowards more in the extreme.
"If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner." — Malcolm Muggeridge
Ben Stein just followed David Brock over the cliff
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 10:49am.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Bueller? Bueller?
Submitted by marpel on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 12:05pm.
Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
God Bless George W. Bush, and God Bless Rick Perry!!
"Deep within my heart lies a memory. A song of ol' San Antone..."
Let's be fair...
Submitted by retrocon on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 3:15pm.
Let's be fair to Ben.
He has been republican establishment for a very long time.
He has been celebrity for almost as long.
He is a good and decent person, and very intelligent, but his perspectives are from a base of normalcy that helped create the problems we face today.
I hope that he will go back one day, and reread the US Constitution, study the cause and effects that led to it's framing, and apply the same due diligence as he has shown in researching creationism and the holocaust. If he does that, he will have little choice but to recognize the federal libertarian intent of those who framed the document, and that it's our deviation from that path that has led us to all the problems we are facing today.
I saw a CBS logo in the
Submitted by deerjerkydave on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 5:32pm.
I saw a CBS logo in the corner. Maybe Stein is good at pandering to his employer.
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"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite. -James Madison