Pretense Of Knowledge

Appeals court upholds Fed’s 21-cent cap on retailer ‘swipe fees’

"A Federal Reserve rule allowing banks to charge retailers 21 cents to process debit-card transactions has been upheld by a federal appeals panel, a blow to big merchants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. The dispute stems from a Dodd-Frank provision that required the Fed to set the so-called interchange fees, known colloquially as swipe fees, at a level reflecting the actual processing costs. The Fed's staff recommended cutting the fee from 44 cents per transaction on average to just 12 cents. But after heated protests from the financial industry, the Fed in June 2011 set a cap of 21 cents per transaction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAppeals court upholds Fed’s 21-cent cap on retailer ‘swipe fees’

Weather seems to blame for U.S. slowdown, Fed’s Yellen says

"Unusually harsh winter weather appears to be behind recent signs of weakness in the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday, suggesting the central bank was poised to press forward in ratcheting back its stimulus. Testifying to the Senate Banking Committee, Yellen said the Fed would watch carefully to ensure weather was indeed the culprit, but she reiterated that it would take a 'significant change' to the economy's prospects for the Fed to put plans to wind down its bond-buying program on hold. The world's largest economy added fewer than 200,000 jobs combined in December and January, well below expectations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWeather seems to blame for U.S. slowdown, Fed’s Yellen says

Fed’s ‘Elixir’ Is Surely a Temporary One

"The idea once was that powerful central bankers would work behind the scenes to make sure that various markets were stable and fair. Nowadays, central bankers work to ensure that markets – especially stock markets – are propped up so that the appearance of an improving economy can be maintained. And far from working in secret, this generation of bankers is desperate to reassure investors that optimal conditions for continued equity gains will be continued. This is, in fact, what the Bloomberg article is telling us. The Fed's magic elixir is simply the ability to assure top investors that they can continue to shovel money into the stock market without undue risk of reversals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed’s ‘Elixir’ Is Surely a Temporary One

Bill Bonner: The Fed’s Big Lie

"Whatever may be said about today’s cockeyed economies, there is nothing 'normal' about them. What’s normal about a government that runs up as much debt as it had in World War II – with no war… no national emergency… and no way to pay the money back? What’s normal about an economy that depends on the lowest interest rates in three generations… and a central bank that holds them down like a crooked butcher with his finger on the meat scale? And what’s normal about an advanced capitalist country where the typical man earns less than he did 43 years ago?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Fed’s Big Lie

Cognitive Dissonance of Ben Bernanke?

"The aggrandizement of 'leaders' who preside over massive price-fixing facilities such as central banks and legislatures ought to be identified as the hype that it is. There is no possible way that even the most sophisticated analysis of previous indicators can yield up legitimate and accurate projections. Those internationalists who have constructed the current system know that. Hence, the almost obsessive concentration on academic degrees and 'expert' appellations. The idea is to fool people into believing the 'best-of-the-best' have 'expert' powers that allow them to peer into the future using the indicators at hand. But they can't any more than you can." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCognitive Dissonance of Ben Bernanke?

Central banker: Aussie dollar needs to fall further

"Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens has indicated he wants an Aussie dollar closer to 85 US cents, while pointing to 'promising signs' that the economy is transitioning away from the mining boom. But he said that turning the lower currency into a real depreciation that spurs growth would require real wage cuts. 'I thought [US]85 cents would be closer to the mark than [US]95 cents . . .but really, I don't think we can be that precise. I just think that if things over the medium term evolve as we're presently assuming – and I think it's reasonable to make these assumptions – it's going to be surprising if a nine at the front is the right number,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCentral banker: Aussie dollar needs to fall further

The Dialectical Pomposity of the Tapering Promotion

"We might taper, he tells us, if the economy seems strong. We might not if the economy seems less strong. Maybe we will, maybe we won't. And to ascertain the strength of the economy, Bullard and his noobs will parse notoriously unreliable government data. They will make decisions on how much money to print at what price. This is price fixing and price fixing never works. They will use the loony-tune statistics provided to them by the US government. Good luck. They will make determinations about the level of the price fix they shall levy based on these flawed numbers. This is YOUR economy. This is YOUR money." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Dialectical Pomposity of the Tapering Promotion

Alan Greenspan: Bitcoin Is a Bubble Without Intrinsic Currency Value

"The former Federal Reserve chairman said Bitcoin prices are unsustainably high after surging 89-fold in a year and that the virtual money isn’t currency. 'It’s a bubble,' Greenspan, 87, said. 'It has to have intrinsic value. You have to really stretch your imagination to infer what the intrinsic value of Bitcoin is. I haven’t been able to do it. Maybe somebody else can.' 'I do not understand where the backing of Bitcoin is coming from,' the former Fed chief said. 'There is no fundamental issue of capabilities of repaying it in anything which is universally acceptable, which is either intrinsic value of the currency or the credit or trust of the individual who is issuing the money.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAlan Greenspan: Bitcoin Is a Bubble Without Intrinsic Currency Value

Central Banking: Sterile as the Grave

"Central banking is a modern religion, a technocratic one. The world's top men, the ones who control banking, want to present central banking as a science. Any sense of spontaneity, gaiety or eccentricity is to be drained from the process. What is left is a dutiful acknowledgement that those minding the money store are the best of the best – and chosen for their fealty to honesty and their honest resoluteness in the face of the temptations of corruption. A straight-shooter, fearless, well-meaning, earnest ... even a bit nebbish. That's how the central banker is basically presented to the world. You don't usually see them in relaxed environments. You hardly ever see them at barbecues." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCentral Banking: Sterile as the Grave

Paul Craig Roberts: The Money Changers Serenade – A New Plot Hatches

"At the IMF Research Conference on November 8, 2013, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers presented a plan to expand the con game. Summers says that it is not enough merely to give the banks interest free money. More should be done for the banks. Instead of being paid interest on their bank deposits, people should be penalized for keeping their money in banks instead of spending it. Summers acknowledges that the problem with his solution is that people would take their money out of banks and hoard it in cash holdings. Summers has a fix for this: eliminate the freedom by imposing a cashless society where the only money is electronic." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: The Money Changers Serenade – A New Plot Hatches