As you may know, we’re less than 20 minutes away from Ben Bernanke’s historic (!!!!!) press conference and it’s all people can do not to give themselves strokes over the whole deal. CNBC has rebranded itself the Bernanke Channel and spent the last 6 hours analyzing the event from every angle imaginable. Such as the Fed Chairman sitting versus standing, which Erin Burnett and Melissa Lee speculate is pretty significant.
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The Fed is wide open, okay? Now, if you wanna talk about these “audits” of monetary policy some people in Congress are calling for? That would have “a very bad outcome.” [Bernanke At The National Press Club;WSJ]
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The good news: the economy is improving slightly! The even better news: you’re getting even more stimulus up in this piece!
The Federal Reserve gave a lukewarm economic assessment on Wednesday despite recent signs the recovery was strengthening, saying high unemployment still justified its $600 billion bond-buying program. In a statement following its policy-setting meeting, the central bank also said measures of underlying inflation were “somewhat low” although it acknowledged rising commodity prices that have fueled global inflation worries. It left its benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero, as was widely expected, and reiterated that rates would likely stay ultra-low for an extended period. None of the Fed officials dissented.
“The economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring about a significant improvement in labor market conditions,” the Fed said.
[CNBC]
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The last time Ray Lopez bought a suit, Lehman Brothers was still standing. Now the managing partner at Greensboro, North Carolina, private equity firm Shamrock Capital Partners is ready to go wardrobe shopping again. Lopez, 43, plans to drop as much as $1,500 at Jos. A. Bank on two pinstriped suits, white dress shirts, and a handful of ties: “I feel more comfortable about the economy. Plus I’m seeing these big discounts everywhere.” [Bloomberg, not available yet]
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“There are obviously very severe economic and social consequences from this level of unemployment,” Bernanke said at an event hosted by Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. “So getting new jobs, getting unemployment down is of an incredible importance.” [Reuters]
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Earlier today, PIMCO managing director Paul McCulley took to the company blog to offer a word of congratulations to Ben Bernanke. “Bravo, Ben,” McCulley, a fan of QE2, wrote. How has the mustachioed investor come to the conclusion that the Fed’s program is the right move for the economy? It passed his litmus test when it was panned in equal measure by both smart, savvy individuals and Sarah Palin. Sayeth McCulley:
It brings me great angst to observe professional critics – many of them acquaintances and friends of mine – rhetorically beating Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke about the head and shoulders for launching QE2. At the same time, the fact that Sarah Palin has joined the chorus brings me great joy. If what Ben is doing offends both the learned and the unlearned, then he is clearly acting unconventionally relative to orthodoxy. And this is good, very good.
So just, you know, get on board. And if you can’t get on board, just shut the hell up and take it. This is happening, so buckle up.
The Fed makes policy consistent with its legislative mandate handed down by the democratically-elected government of the United States. And that’s what the Fed is pursuing: mandate-consistent levels for inflation and the unemployment rate. This is as it should be.
The rest of the world should simply accept this outcome as reality, and adjust – or not adjust – their own domestically-oriented objectives and policies accordingly. Is there room for multi-lateral dialogue, perhaps even some degree of coordination, as various jurisdictions grapple with heterogeneous economic and financial exigencies? Absolutely. But that does not imply that the Fed should abdicate its responsibilities to pursue the mandate given to it by the American people. Pursuing that mandate is precisely what the Bernanke-led FOMC is doing.
Bravo, Ben: Illegitimi non carborundum.
A Kind Word For Ben [PIMCO via BI]
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Someone’s gonna be splurging at Jos A. Bank tonight.
The U.S. Federal Reserve chairman’s wealth rose last year, according to financial disclosure forms released Friday by the central bank. As of the end of 2009, Bernanke’s asset holdings were between $1.2 million and $2.5 million, the same as in 2007. That compares with between $850,000 and $1.9 million in 2008, when stocks were walloped by the worst financial crisis since the 1929 Wall Street Crash. Much of the increase in Bernanke’s wealth came from a large-cap stock variable annuity he holds, whose value rose to between $500,000 and $1 million at the end of 2009 from between $250,000 and $500,000 the previous year.
Bernanke’s Bottom Line [WSJ]
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Facial hair, of the ’stache variety. One used to have an epic handlebar, as evidenced by his Harvard yearbook photo and the other wears a fake and goes around asking Deutsche Bank investor relations bunnies if he can interest them in a ride.
The Beard, before he was The Beard, in Harvard’s 1975 yearbook.
Is Bernanke Having Fun Yet? [NYT]
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