Ron Paul berates Ben Bernanke at Joint Eco Comm, April 2/08

[Bindare_Dundat]

"And some day maybe we'll let the market determine the interest rates".

[MB]

I think Bernanke should throw out the "price stability model" he's using.  Instead of increasing interest rates to discourage borrowing, the fed decreases rates to allow people to keep borrowing and artificially hold up prices.  Everyone can't be bailed out.  If there is a downswing in the housing market, let it happen and self correct.  Why lower rates even further, the very thing that got the market in a mess to begin with.   

[Bindare_Dundat]

As short as his answers are at least Ben agrees with some of Ron Pauls opinions. Greenspan would've rambled on for 15 minutes and said nothing.

[stormshadow]

As short as his answers are at least Ben agrees with some of Ron Pauls opinions. Greenspan would've rambled on for 15 minutes and said nothing.

I watched this meeting last night on C-span and I don't really think that Ben is an evil guy.  I think he is trying to do the best he can with the system that is in place.

What I think is disgusting is the barrage of US representatives that repeatedly ask:

"Ben, What can we do?"

"Ben, how do we fix this?"

"Ben, what else can you do to make it all better?"


I would like to see Ben touch on the fundamentals MORE STRONGLY than he has.  I would like to see him fire back at congress with:

"Why don't you guys try to balance the budget?"

"Why do you penalize people for saving and investing, yet reward them with tax breaks for going into debt?"

"Why don't you provide some measure of incentive to keep businesses operating with US made goods?"

[stormshadow]

"And some day maybe we'll let the market determine the interest rates".

When I watched this last night I said to myself, MY GOD, how stupid and hopeless our government is - They truely are the reflection of the American people.

They operate with ZERO fiscal discipline, encourage debt, discourage savings, encourage consumption, discourage production... Yet, when there is a problem, they line up pleading with Ben to give them the magic pill to make it all better. 

[Deicide]

When I watched this last night I said to myself, MY GOD, how stupid and hopeless our government is - They truely are the reflection of the American people.

They operate with ZERO fiscal discipline, encourage debt, discourage savings, encourage consumption, discourage production... Yet, when there is a problem, they line up pleading with Ben to give them the magic pill to make it all better. 

Yup, Americans aren't really the brightest of cookies...but they are still 'the best'...

[MB]

because the consumer is broke and accounts for 70% of our economy.

we need to create another "ATM machine", like the Dot.com and housing bubbles.....so americans can continue to spend money that falls from the sky ! 

If the avg price of a house in the US is $200k, I wonder what the price would be if borrowing was not allowed?  My guess is about $90k.  I wouldn't be against increasing the % down payment to qualify for a home loan (maybe 50%), and not allowing mortgages on homes that are not your primary residence. 

[240 is Back]

If the avg price of a house in the US is $200k, I wonder what the price would be if borrowing was not allowed?  My guess is about $90k.  I wouldn't be against increasing the % down payment to qualify for a home loan (maybe 50%), and not allowing mortgages on homes that are not your primary residence. 

in my MBA program, in one of the classes, we talked about the housing boom a lot in 2003-2005.  I was the only kid in the class who wasn't jumping on a 1st or 2nd home with an ARM.  My argument was that there simply wasn' demand for this to be a wise investment... there would be no one to buy these 5 or 10 million new homes, because the population wasn't going to grow that much - 10 million home buyers aren't going to arrive in the next 5 years.  There were bank managers and financial planners in my classes telling me i was crazy, that a housing bubble CANNOT POP BY DEFINITION, etc, because people need a place to live.