Ben and Me
I think a lot of us overidentify with a celebrity and take what happens to them almost as personally as if it happened to us. Not necessarily in a Travis Bickle way, but maybe an internal version of "leave Britney alone!"
For me, that person is U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Not joking. I care deeply about both the doings of Ben Bernanke and perceptions of Ben Bernanke.
I just watched a press conference he gave earlier in the week after choosing to continue bond purchases (also known as quantitative easing). It was civil and he was obviously respected. Everybody pretty much acknowledged without wanting to say outright that the Fed has to continue to behave in un-Fed-like ways because Congress has gone crazy and is gearing up to put us through another debt-default crisis and another government freeze, which could topple the economy of the entire world (not hyperbole) and only didn't last time because . . . the Fed. Which maybe let the crazies continue to believe "see! all of these doom and gloom warning are for nothing! Let's push ahead!" But what are you going to do?
In an analogy that is hyperbole, it's kind of like stopping a murder in such a way that the would-be murderer is not able to be put on trial for murder, and therefore runs free, to possibly commit another murder. Like that. But then again, the crazies are clearly crazies and part of being crazy is not accurately perceiving reality, so it is hard to guess how they might have behaved or not behaved differently.
Anyway, that bit I expected and of course. What can any of us do. The sober financial folks are on the same side here. I'm baffled by the existence of large campaign contributions to far-right Republicans, because I have never talked to anyone with money or seen anyone with money say shutting down the government would help their business or their income. Even the money people who are anti-tax would rather pay 80% tax on money than have tax-free no money. Thus ends the digression.
But this one reporter stood up toward the end and said:
And Bernanke's face. Oh Bernanke's face. Maybe I imagined it. Maybe it was just my face.
He spoke very evenly, acknowledging the truth of the data, and that it is a trend that goes back decades. These are facts, and he presented them as facts. He talked a little bit about some of the theories behind what is causing it. He said there are too many people in poverty, which he also presented as if it was a fact and equally inarguable. Too many. This is Ben Bernanke's judgment of truth. He went on to say:
Go back to that middle paragraph.
Oh Ben Bernanke.
You are the crossing guard trying to help people across a road where no speed limits are being enforced. You are the lunch lady trying to keep a kid fed who you know doesn't eat on the weekends. You know this. You do your best.
I see you, Ben Bernanke.
* * *
In the parts of my life that do not revolve around monetary policy, Ciro and I walked down to Ginn Field yesterday and watched kids run around. I ate a delicious apple. I have also been enjoying my birthday lavender marshmallows, in which the lavender is more present when heated (say 12 seconds in the microwave).
I assembled the new bathroom scale (read: put the bat teries in and set it on the floor) and discovered I am four pounds lighter than I guessed I was. I have been without a scale for several months, as my last one broke. I was aiming for a weight change during this time (for friends-filtered reasons), but basically had to eyeball it. So, first of all, I was correct within 4 pounds. Nice. And second, that error put me closer to my target, which I thought I'd overshot significantly. Even if neither of these things had been true, I would still be pleased to have the actual numbers. It is nice to know what I'm dealing with, rather than a range of probabilities.
(Yet now that I know my position, what speed am I going?)
We finally had a chance to watch JCVD, which I have wanted to see since 2008. I clearly remember standing in the lobby of the Angelika in Dallas, reading about it. It did not disappoint. A delightful film - human, and structurally clever. And it opens with one of the most creative and old-school breathtaking action-comedy sequences I imagine I'll ever see. Highly recommend. Being a Van Damme fan - or even having seen a Van Damme movie - is not a prerequisite to enjoyment. The film does the setup work for you.
For me, that person is U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Not joking. I care deeply about both the doings of Ben Bernanke and perceptions of Ben Bernanke.
I just watched a press conference he gave earlier in the week after choosing to continue bond purchases (also known as quantitative easing). It was civil and he was obviously respected. Everybody pretty much acknowledged without wanting to say outright that the Fed has to continue to behave in un-Fed-like ways because Congress has gone crazy and is gearing up to put us through another debt-default crisis and another government freeze, which could topple the economy of the entire world (not hyperbole) and only didn't last time because . . . the Fed. Which maybe let the crazies continue to believe "see! all of these doom and gloom warning are for nothing! Let's push ahead!" But what are you going to do?
In an analogy that is hyperbole, it's kind of like stopping a murder in such a way that the would-be murderer is not able to be put on trial for murder, and therefore runs free, to possibly commit another murder. Like that. But then again, the crazies are clearly crazies and part of being crazy is not accurately perceiving reality, so it is hard to guess how they might have behaved or not behaved differently.
Anyway, that bit I expected and of course. What can any of us do. The sober financial folks are on the same side here. I'm baffled by the existence of large campaign contributions to far-right Republicans, because I have never talked to anyone with money or seen anyone with money say shutting down the government would help their business or their income. Even the money people who are anti-tax would rather pay 80% tax on money than have tax-free no money. Thus ends the digression.
But this one reporter stood up toward the end and said:
"As you may know, the Census Bureau reported yesterday that the poverty rate and the median household income saw no improvement last year. When you see the median income turning up and in light of the fact that people in the middle of the bottom have seen very little of the gains relative to higher income households, how would you assess the quantitative easing and Fed policy?"
And Bernanke's face. Oh Bernanke's face. Maybe I imagined it. Maybe it was just my face.
He spoke very evenly, acknowledging the truth of the data, and that it is a trend that goes back decades. These are facts, and he presented them as facts. He talked a little bit about some of the theories behind what is causing it. He said there are too many people in poverty, which he also presented as if it was a fact and equally inarguable. Too many. This is Ben Bernanke's judgment of truth. He went on to say:
"My first point is that these long term trends - it is important to address these trends, but the Federal Reserve does not have the tools to address these long-run distributional trends. They can only be addressed by Congress and the administration. It's up to them, I think, to take those steps.
The Federal Reserve, we are doing our part to help the median family, the median American. One of our principal goals - we have two principal goals - one is maximum employment, jobs. The best way to help families is to create employment opportunities. We are still not satisfied, obviously, with where the labor market is. We will continue to provide support for that. The other goal is price stability, low inflation which helps make the economy work better for people in the middle and lower parts of the distribution.
We use the tools we have. It would be better to have a mix of tools that work, not just monetary policy, but fiscal policy and other policies as well. But we only have a certain set of tools and those are the ones we use.
Our objectives of creating jobs and maintaining price stability are quite consistent with helping the average American. But there is a limit to what we can do about long-run trends. I think those are very important issues that Congress and the administration need to look at and decide what needs to be done there."
Go back to that middle paragraph.
We use the tools we have. It would be better to have a mix of tools that work, not just monetary policy, but fiscal policy and other policies as well. But we only have a certain set of tools and those are the ones we use.
Oh Ben Bernanke.
You are the crossing guard trying to help people across a road where no speed limits are being enforced. You are the lunch lady trying to keep a kid fed who you know doesn't eat on the weekends. You know this. You do your best.
I see you, Ben Bernanke.
* * *
In the parts of my life that do not revolve around monetary policy, Ciro and I walked down to Ginn Field yesterday and watched kids run around. I ate a delicious apple. I have also been enjoying my birthday lavender marshmallows, in which the lavender is more present when heated (say 12 seconds in the microwave).
I assembled the new bathroom scale (read: put the bat teries in and set it on the floor) and discovered I am four pounds lighter than I guessed I was. I have been without a scale for several months, as my last one broke. I was aiming for a weight change during this time (for friends-filtered reasons), but basically had to eyeball it. So, first of all, I was correct within 4 pounds. Nice. And second, that error put me closer to my target, which I thought I'd overshot significantly. Even if neither of these things had been true, I would still be pleased to have the actual numbers. It is nice to know what I'm dealing with, rather than a range of probabilities.
(Yet now that I know my position, what speed am I going?)
We finally had a chance to watch JCVD, which I have wanted to see since 2008. I clearly remember standing in the lobby of the Angelika in Dallas, reading about it. It did not disappoint. A delightful film - human, and structurally clever. And it opens with one of the most creative and old-school breathtaking action-comedy sequences I imagine I'll ever see. Highly recommend. Being a Van Damme fan - or even having seen a Van Damme movie - is not a prerequisite to enjoyment. The film does the setup work for you.