Bush nominated Ben Bernake as new Fed. Reserve chairman

I, for one, will be very glad to see Alan Greenspan leave the Fed. His life values were offensive to me as demonstrated by the quote below. He was a intense disciple of Any Rand and her Objectiveness insanity of Social Darwinism. He betrayed any sense of independence when he became a shill for George W. Bush's economic goals. He supported the rising deficits and only condemed them when they became politically unpopular. I hope the new Fed chairman will have more independence and intregity. ---BBB

Alan Greenspan's quote from the publisher's endorsement page of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged book.

What People Are Saying

"Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is a celebration of life and happiness. Justice is unrelenting. Creative individuals and undeviating purpose and rationality achieve joy and fulfillment. Parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish as they should."

---Alan Greenspan

I must locate the other thread for you BBB....

Hope this goes through...it was posted also in the politics board by John Drury

Ben Bernanke to replace Greenspan

One question for Bernanke
One question for Bernanke
E.J. Dionne, Jr. - Washington Post Writers Group
10.25.05 - WASHINGTON

You would like to hope that the new chairman of the Federal Reserve Board would learn not only from Alan Greenspan's successes but also from his failures. There is reason to worry that having a Fed chairman so close to President Bush's policymaking apparatus will give us something other than the best of these two worlds.

In picking Ben Bernanke, the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, to replace Greenspan, Bush has not chosen a classic crony. Bernanke has ample academic and policy credentials and served on the Fed's board of governors for nearly three years before taking his White House post in June.

But a Fed chairman is supposed to serve the whole economy and transcend the interests and policy predispositions of a particular administration. The Senate will need to press Bernanke hard to find out how he will manage this.

When former President Clinton renominated Greenspan in 1996 and again in 2000, Clinton knew he was sticking with a libertarian conservative whose political views were often at odds with the administration's own. Clinton stuck with Greenspan because of the chairman's practical side. The economy boomed in the 1990s, and Clinton wanted to stick with success.

There was also this about Greenspan: When it came to managing interest rates, he was largely an empiricist paying attention to facts even more than he was an ideologue peddling theories. He could admit that the new economy could be something of a mystery to him, and he could learn from mistakes.

In the early 1990s, he put the brakes on the economy too hard, fearing inflation and speeding a downturn. Greenspan came to see that inflation was far less of a threat in the new economy than did many of his fellow conservatives -- and some of his European central banking brethren. He let the economy grow faster, and inflation was kept at bay.

That was the side of Greenspan that won him comparisons with the Almighty. In fact, he didn't get everything as right as we now remember. In retrospect, he could have done more to ease the negative effects of the stock market bubble he was warning against. We may come to wonder about the housing bubble as well. Still, we have pretty fond memories of the Clinton-Greenspan-Robert Rubin economy.

But Greenspan never lost his ideological side. When Bush took office, Greenspan, in an act that will always mar his tenure, suggested that there was ample room for the tax cuts Bush favored, that there might be terrible problems from paying off the debt too quickly. Greenspan became the great enabler of Bush tax policies that have now produced massive deficits -- which Greenspan now dutifully condemns. When the great mechanic gave way to the flawed policymaker, the results were less than pleasing.

And that is why Bernanke gives us all reason for concern. Just last Thursday, there he was, telling Congress' Joint Economic Committee that the initial Bush tax cuts had "increased disposable income for all taxpayers, supporting consumer confidence and spending while increasing incentives for work and entrepreneurship." Later tax cuts, he said, "provided incentives for businesses to expand their capital investments and reduced the cost of capital by lowering tax rates on dividends and capital gains."

Well, a Bush appointee would say that, wouldn't he? But this is a terribly rosy view of reality. Consumer confidence has actually been going down. Disposable income is not going up for everyone (just ask General Motors employees and retirees). And Bernanke is a fan of explicit inflation targets, which Greenspan rejected in favor of a more pragmatic approach. Would inflation targets unduly hamper growth?

When Bush announced his appointment on Monday, Bernanke was careful to emphasize his desire to "maintain continuity" with Greenspan's policies. He also implied he would be independent by stressing he would play his role in the economy in cooperation with his Federal Reserve colleagues -- pointedly not mentioning the White House.

He is thus aware of the main line of questioning he will -- and should -- face from the Senate: What does he see as the best parts of the Greenspan legacy, and is he in the thrall of the same economic ideology that has animated the president who appointed him?

This nomination ought to spur a broad debate on the future of the economy and globalization that pays attention not just to what "the markets" are thinking but also to what is happening to Americans who do not find themselves at the top of the heap. A Fed chairman who beats inflation at the cost of middle-income living standards will not be regarded as a success.

Sturgis


Thanks, Sturgis, didn't know the other thread existed. I transfered the link to this thread to that site.

BBB

Have you actually read "Atlas Shrugged"? Do you know who the "parasites" in Greenspan's sentence are, and in which sense they "perish"? If not, maybe you can ask Phoenix, who I think is an objectivist, for a primer. Or better yet, you could read the book so you'll know what you're talking about.

Thomas


Thomas, as a matter of fact, I do know what I'm talking about.

I read all of Ayn Rand's books as they were published and discussed them with people whose intellect I respected. I also read many of her dissertations and her institute's publications including the books of her disciples because I was fascinated by her theories.

But after study and thinking about it for a long time, I came to the conclusion that Ayn Rand was an advocate of greed as well as a Social Darwinist and a fool.

Then I moved on.

BBB

Re: Thomas

Good. In that case you know that the "parasites" in "Atlas Shrugged" are self-serving corporate managers and politicians who hide behind slogans of social harmony -- and that they "perish" by losing their power. The way you present the Greenspan quote, he sounds like a proto-Nazi, which he wasn't.

Re: Thomas


Greenspan chose to use the word "Perish." It has nothing to do with losing power.


Definition of "perish"
A verb
1 die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass_away, expire, pass

pass from physical life and lose all all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; "She died from cancer"; "They children perished in the fire"; "The patient went peacefully"

BBB

Re: Thomas

Which "parasite" and which kind of "perishing" in Atlas Shrugged do you think he is referring to then? You say you have read the book, so you should find it easy to tell.

More bluntly put, I am getting the impression that you are condemning the whole life of a personality based on a book jacket blurb -- a personality whose work you show no evidence of understanding, and whose ideology you show no evidence of having researched beyond the second-hand accounts of opponents and supporters. May your own character always be judged by fairer-minded people than yourself.

Re: Thomas


Thomas, you know nothing about my study of Ayn Rand and appear to reject the short summary description of my scholarly study I posted. So what is the point of continuing this discussion since you reject the honesty of my claim.

BBB

One of these days, when I have absolutely nothing to do I will read Atlas Shrugged and Mein Kampf Always insightful to try to understand the minds of madmen/women.

twin peaks


Both Rand and Hitler were leaders of cults. Their deciples were members of cults. Cults are historically destructive to peace and tranquility on planet earth. I wonder how many people realize Ayn Rand was a cult leader?

I know a lot about cults as a member of my family suffered greatly while under the influence of a notorious cult, which put her life at risk. She sued the cult and won, during which time I had to learn as much as possible about them and the psychology and power structure of cults.

Cults are not a good thing throughout history. That's how religions get started.

BBB

Two Unsustainable Trends: Will Bernanke Be Enough?
Opinion: Two Unsustainable Trends: Will Bernanke Be Enough?
By Paul Krugman (excerpt)

My main concern is that the economy may well face a day of reckoning soon after Mr. Bernanke takes office. And while he is surely the best politically possible man for the job (all the other candidates I would have been happy with are independents or Democrats), coping with that day of reckoning without some nasty shocks may be beyond anyone's talents. The fact is that the U.S. economy's growth over the past few years has depended on two unsustainable trends: a huge surge in house prices and a vast inflow of funds from Asia. Sooner or later, both trends will end, possibly abruptly.

It's true that Mr. Bernanke has given speeches suggesting both that a "global savings glut" will continue to provide the United States with lots of capital inflows, and that housing prices don't reflect a bubble. Well, soothing words are expected from a Fed chairman. He must know that he may be wrong. If he is, the U.S. economy will find itself in need of the "Rooseveltian resolve"...aggressive government moves to jump-start stalled economies....We can safely predict that Mr. Bernanke will show that resolve. In fact, Bill Gross of the giant bond fund Pimco has already predicted that next year Mr. Bernanke will start cutting interest rates.

But that may not be enough. When all is said and done, the Fed controls only one thing: the short-term interest rate. And it will be a long time before we have competent, public-spirited people controlling taxes, spending and other instruments of economic policy.

I applaud Greenspan's passing. I don't know enough about the nominee to disparage him overly much, but, if he folows Rand or Bush too closely, I am opposed.