New Federal Reserve Chairman's Priorities Questioned

[From article]
There is no reason to doubt Yellen’s intellectual integrity; there is reason to wonder where she thinks the autonomous Fed now fits in the government. The Fed seems to be evolving into a central economic planner with a roving commission to right social wrongs such as unemployment. About this Yellen talks with a humane passion that speaks well of her but is more suited to a political official.
There is considerable congruence between Yellen’s economic theories and the policy preferences of the Democratic liberals who secured her nomination. They probably favor quantitative easing forever and consider themselves her constituents. Is she prepared to disappoint them?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will110913.php3#.Un9b2N00i6Y

Jewish World Review
Can Yellen stand alone?
By George Will
November 9, 2013

Misguided Delusional Federal Reserve Members Driven By Fantasies

[From article]
IRP, which Yellen ardently supports, is trickle-down economics: Money, searching for yields higher than bonds offered under ZIRP, floods into stocks, the rising value of which supposedly creates a “wealth effect” — feelings of prosperity that stimulate spending and investing among the 10 percent who own about 80 percent of all stocks.
[. . .]
The Fed has become the model of applied progressivism, under which power flows to clever regulators who operate independent of political control. The Fed is, however, a creation of Congress, which may not forever refrain from putting a bridle and snaffle on a Fed that increasingly allocates credit, wealth and opportunity.
Bernanke and others appointed by Obama share his arrogance thinking only they are capable of running the nation which requires that all citizens obey their superior masters.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/op_ed/2013/09/fed_fancies_itself_as_captain_of_us_economy

Fed fancies itself as captain of U.S. economy
Boston Herald
Sunday, September 29, 2013
By: George F. Will

Tim Geithner Talks Till He Walks

"Not a single member of either political party cut [Stammering Hank Paulson and Tim "Dead Man Talking" Geithner] any slack. As we used to say in Brooklyn, Paulson and Geithner got their asses kicked.
Isn't it amazing how a little fear of losing an election can snap even the laziest politicians into action?
[. . .]
I'd be shocked if Tim Geithner, lasts much longer as Treasury Secretary.
His mouth keeps moving, but Geithner continues to say incredibly stupid things -- like, insisting again yesterday that he in herited today's financial problems when in fact he was head of the New York Fed when this mess started."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/what_congress_missed_at_aig_geithner_H1rhDxyH4vrcOMONwmkjxO

What Congress missed at AIG-Geithner hearing

New York Post

Last Updated: 7:14 AM, January 28, 2010

Posted: 1:39 AM, January 28, 2010

Stammering<p> </p><br>Hank Paulsonand<p> </p><br>Tim"Dead Man Talking"<p> </p><br>Geithnercouldn't wait to get out of the witness chair yesterday when they appeared before the House Oversight Committee.<p> </p><br> The former and current Treasury secretaries were grilled separately, in one of the few bipartisan events since<p> </p><br>President Obamatook office.<p> </p><br> Not a single member of either political party cut these two guys any slack. As we used to say in Brooklyn, Paulson and Geithner got their asses kicked.<p> </p><br> Isn't it amazing how a little fear of losing an election can snap even the laziest politicians into action?<p> </p><br> As a matter of course, one congressman yesterday brought up Geithner's past tax troubles. And everyone mentioned the apparent conflict of interest that occurred when AIG was bailed out by taxpayers and Goldman Sachs -- Paulson's old firm -- just happened to score enormous benefits.<p> </p><br> At one point, Paulson was asked to stay for an additional eight minutes of questioning. When the clock hit 10 minutes, Paulson asked to be excused like he suddenly had a bathroom emergency.<p> </p><br> But Paulson and Geithner were very lucky that their interrogators really didn't know what they were doing, so they took their inquisition down a dead end.<p> </p><br> What do I mean? The main line of questioning is about AIG, the insurance company that invested in risky stuff and needed taxpayers to save its behind.<p> </p><br> Not only did companies like Goldman, which invested on the other side of AIG trades, get all of their money back, but it turns out the New York Fed decided to keep details of the deals secret.<p> </p><br> That's all very interesting stuff. The problem is, Paulson and Geithner have an easy explanation that they invoked over and over.<p> </p><br> At various times the two either proclaimed that they weren't the ones who negotiated the AIG deal or -- and this is the real winner -- the whole freakin' financial world would have fallen apart if the AIG bailout hadn't occurred.<p> </p><br> In other words, Paulson and Geithner were saying: Why are you people bothering us? You should be giving us a ticker-tape parade.<p> </p><br> "If, if, if, if AIG had failed, with the system as fragile as it was, I believe it would have taken down the whole financial system and the economy," Paulson said at one point. And in case that didn't frighten you enough, Paulson was nice enough to provide threatening numbers -- 25 percent unemployment instead of the current 10 percent and housing prices "much lower" than they are today.<p> </p><br> "This would have been an economic nightmare," Paulson said.<p> </p><br> The best anyone could say about Geithner's performance is that he didn't start crying when one member of the committee accused him of being a politician and another cut him short by repeating, "you've answered the question, you've answered the question."<p> </p><br> AIG is a dead end. The culprits can argue that they were under a lot of pressure and even if mistakes were made, they were honest ones.<p> </p><br> But there's nothing honest about Paulson's habit of phoning up friends on Wall Street when he got the itch. There is nothing Paulson and someone like<p> </p><br>Lloyd Blankfein, his successor at Goldman, could have spoken about -- six times, for instance, on Sept. 18, 2008 -- that would not have been inside information.<p> </p><br> If others are prosecuted for having information that the public doesn't, why is it that Goldman had a hot line to the Treasury?<p> </p><br> Was this very profitable financial institution suddenly invested with certain quasi-government powers?<p> </p><br> If you look through Paulson's phone logs, there are dozens upon dozens of calls made between Blankfein and Paulson during the latter's tenure as Treasury secretary.<p> </p><br> And those calls don't even include ones likely made on cell phones. One congressman said during yesterday's hearing that Geithner also made hundreds of calls to Goldman Sachs during the AIG timeframe. Or, as he put it, 103 calls to Goldman and 100 calls to Fed Chairman<p> </p><br>Ben Bernanke.<p> </p><br> I'd be shocked if Tim Geithner, lasts much longer as Treasury Secretary.<p> </p><br> His mouth keeps moving, but Geithner continues to say incredibly stupid things -- like, insisting again yesterday that he in herited today's financial problems when in fact he was head of the New York Fed when this mess started.<p> </p><br>john.crudele@nypost.com <p> </p><br>

John Crudele

No Accountability for Geithner

"From 2003 until his 2009 appointment as Treasury secretary, Geithner served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The New York Fed's role as the top Wall Street watchdog can't be overstated -- so if regulatory failure contributed to the recent financial crisis, then few regulators contributed more than the New York Fed and its chief, Tim Geithner.

[. . .]

 Only a handful of individuals could truly be called architects of our financial-regulatory system. Geithner, without a doubt, is one. To pretend he just now arrived on the scene is not only dishonest, it's dangerous."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/geithner_lifelong_love_of_bailouts_rweqUPQK9EIongrU8AMtfK

Geithner's lifelong love of bailouts

By MARK A. CALABRIA

New York Post

Last Updated: 5:54 PM, January 20, 2010

Posted: 1:30 AM, January 20, 2010

Why No Scrutiny of Federal Reserve?


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/somebody_in_congress_needs_to_look_DEn4Hm2A7NGr0byANp7zRK

Somebody in Congress needs to look into this
John Crudele
New York Post
Last Updated: 1:50 AM, October 13, 2009
Posted: 1:50 AM, October 13, 2009