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The Congressman must have been listening to my radio show and reading this blog!
Check out this unbelievable exchange between Congressman Grayson of Florida and Bernanke. It's exactly what I have been talking about for eight months!
First, Bernanke shows he doesn't know that he can set interest rates for US banks at whatever maturity he wants to if he thinks he needs to lend to foreign cbs in order to "stabilize foreign dollar markets" that US banks borrow in.
Second, Bernanke was actually right when he said it was a coincidence that the dollar gained 20% just as the swaps were occurring. It would have gained a lot more without the swaps.
Good to see this showing up . . . maybe he did see your blog.
Yes, the Congressman didn't get that point on the dollar or had it confused--backward. (Was he unhappy that the dollar gained?) He should have asked why the Fed limited the rally in the dollar and by corollary, reduced the purchasing power and real terms of trade of Americans.
Without the currency swaps, Peter Schiff's investors would have lost WAY more than they did. Schiff thinks the Fed is evil, and so do most that invest with him, but they should all thank their lucky stars the Fed did the swap arrangements or they may have lost everything since they are all clueless about how a flex fx monetary system works.
4 comments:
Nice.
2 observations.
First, Bernanke shows he doesn't know that he can set interest rates for US banks at whatever maturity he wants to if he thinks he needs to lend to foreign cbs in order to "stabilize foreign dollar markets" that US banks borrow in.
Second, Bernanke was actually right when he said it was a coincidence that the dollar gained 20% just as the swaps were occurring. It would have gained a lot more without the swaps.
Good to see this showing up . . . maybe he did see your blog.
Best,
Scott
Yes, the Congressman didn't get that point on the dollar or had it confused--backward. (Was he unhappy that the dollar gained?) He should have asked why the Fed limited the rally in the dollar and by corollary, reduced the purchasing power and real terms of trade of Americans.
Also . . .
Without the currency swaps, Peter Schiff's investors would have lost WAY more than they did. Schiff thinks the Fed is evil, and so do most that invest with him, but they should all thank their lucky stars the Fed did the swap arrangements or they may have lost everything since they are all clueless about how a flex fx monetary system works.
Scott
Yes...how wonderful that would have been!
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