Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
One thing I took away from Peter's excellent UK interview with Dr. Sowell was Sowell's insistence that the economy would have a far better chance of recovering, and doing so much more quickly, if the government would just get out of the way. But it seems that our lib friends in government operate under the opposite assumption. They're mindset is that it cannot recover without government intervention. So here we have Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke saying the Fed's $600 billion bond-buying program is necessary because unemployment will likely stay elevated for up to five more years.
Where does he get such a dismal forecast and on what assumptions is it based? Can you imagine what the MSM would be saying if such doom and gloom were spoken during a GOP administration? The MSM has defined down our economic expectations now to the point that it is now good news if we keep unemployment between 9 and 10 percent. Yet under Bush below 5 percent wasn't good enough -- it was the old "jobless recovery."
Bernanke said that if the pace of hiring doesn't increase "we're not going to see sustained declines in the unemployment rate." Duh! That's like saying if prices keep going up inflation will continue.
What makes these people believe that injecting more government $$$ into the economy is going to ignite economic growth? Or are they not even hoping for that? Is their hope merely that we won't descend into financial catastrophe as long as they inject fed money?
I can't help but wonder whether these gloomy long term assumptions are based on a subconscious realization that Keynesian solutions won't work, but an inability to divorce themselves from those solutions? If your mindset doesn't permit the idea that the market can begin to recover on its own without heavy government intermeddling, yet you know that heavy government intermeddling isn't doing much other than retaining the woefully pathetic status quo, then what else could you predict but long term gloom and doom?
These people actually believe FDR's prescriptions mitigated rather than exacerbated the great depression, so what would we expect them to propose?
I'm nevertheless incredulous when I read a story reporting that Bernanke "sketched a more optimistic view of the economy Friday," but in the same breath predicted unemployment would remain terrible for at least 4-5 more years.
That's optimistic? What am I missing?
But in the end isn't it interesting that libs, in their prideful arrogance, believe they can manipulate the economy with their ingenious government intervention, but in the end, admit that they are powerless to effect meaningful positive results anyway?Mind-blowingly inconsistent.
They might as well be saying, "In our command-control genius, which surpasses the intelligence of the market's invisible hand, the macro-economy is putty in our hands, except when it isn't. But when it isn't you still have to trust us anyway because our theories say it should work. So it will, just give it more time. And when the recovery finally occurs, we'll take credit for it, saying that had we not imposed our prescriptions the recovery would never have occurred or happened much later and you can't prove otherwise."
- Comment (8)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments :
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
Exactly. Nobody predicted the financial crash of 2008. (For that matter, nobody back in the early 80s predicted that the economy would begin to recover in the summer of 1983. Nobody.) Every good business person I know tells me that he takes one-year projections seriously, that he considers two-year projections useful but inherently uncertain, and that he views projections of three, four, and five years as little better than loose heuristics or estimates.
What enables Ben Bernanke to see what no one else can see?
Edited on Jan 7, 2011 at 5:33pmOct '10
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
What of the so-called "Forgotten Depression" of 1920? Warren G. Harding's approach (which entailed budget and tax cuts) to the hardships wrought by that economic downturn would seem to be the textbook example of how to stimulate an economy.
Jul '10
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
My understanding is that he disemboweled Robert Reich and read his entrails.
Let's hope little Robbie's icky bits are no better at economic forecasting than he was.
Jun '10
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
A permanent unemployment rate at 10% is exactly what the Democrats want. Extension of unemployment benefits into perpetuity guarantees a new Democratic constituency. Redistribution is how socialists earn their living. Dependency means political power. It's who they are.
Oct '10
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
Fundamentally, we have here the race for the roses. Will the Democrats get to preside over the tyranny of socialism, or will the remaining free Americans toss them onto the trash heap of history? Who is going to win this race? My money is on free Americans, but we, and I mean a large majority of us, let it go this far, so it will be close. Will our children learn from this, or will they also be foolish enough to be tempted by the "we can have it all" perversion of freedom?
Oct '10
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
"Is their hope merely that we won't descend into financial catastrophe as long as they inject fed money?"
Bingo!
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
Former IMF economist Simon Johnson tells us "The age of American predominance is over" and the yuan will soon be the world's reserve currency. Bizarrely, the point is made with the inevitability of an astronomical prediction of planetary motion. Decline is still a choice. However, we must swiftly reverse course before the economy drowns in reserve dollars returning from abroad.
Sep '10
Re: Libs Lowering the Economic Forecast Bar to Accommodate Their Intransigent Mindset
Bernanke still sees deflation as the greatest threat to the economy and is acting accordingly. You professional pundits may agree or disagree with his assessment of future economic conditions, but criticizing him for making them seems a bit odd. Of course doing this relieves you of any obligation to say why you think he is wrong and provide a rational for your views. Much easier to harp on MSM bias against Bush and for libs; requires almost no thought and you get style points for repetition if not for originality. I happen to think the Bush, Bernanke, O. approach is wrong, but I must admit we are weathering this better than I thought, but I have a great deal of angst for the future. Replacing private debt with public debt does not seem to me to be a solution.