7 ms·

Why is Jerome Powel and all the Fed members who said inflation is transitory last year still running the show? Oh let me guess these unelected bureaucrats and

Why is Jerome Powel and all the Fed members who said inflation is transitory last year still running the show? Oh let me guess these unelected bureaucrats and economist experts run the show without any consequences. And for that matter, if honest journalism’s existed Janet Yalen who echoed the same thing would be having a rough time now. But none of these people have any accountability. And here we are.

mikkergp 4y ago
If only the fed could be run by people with the benefit of hindsight.
dixie_land 4y ago
It doesn’t even take a Monday morning quarterback to know pumping 4 trillions at the beginning of Covid is going to have consequences.
jc_811 4y ago
Would you rather have elected officials running the backbone of the entire economy? Officials who have to campaign and constantly worry about the next election cycle? Officials who will care much more about the short-term at the expense of the long-term since that is what keeps them elected? Neither system is ideal, but there are certainly reasons for the system being set up the way it is. Since you decided to bring up the issue, what would your proposed solution be? How should the FED system be set up in regard to officials, appointments, elections, etc. Genuinely curious as to what your thoughts are since I haven't been able to dream up an ideal scenario in my own mind.
- mercy_dude 4y ago
  Because that’s how democracy is supposed to work. Ultimately democracy is not about bringing the most competent people around. It’s so peoples voice matters so when push comes to shove, we don’t become like Sri Lanka. Also I am not convinced Fed is apolitical. The proposed solution would be to go back to gold standard and Fed not have the power to seize it like Roosevelt did. So we need no fake money and fake policies around it.
  - rat87 4y ago
    I'm pretty sure the gold standard is seen as a joke but the vast majority of economists. During the great depression countries who went off gold standard first recovered more quickly. Roosevelt did the right thing
    - mercy_dude 4y ago
      The same economists who also thought inflation is transitory.
    - Grim-444 4y ago
      I'm always confused at how there's such a seemingly large mismatch between on one hand people trivially dismissing the gold standard as a joke and on the other the fact that the gold standard seemingly worked well enough for this country for hundreds of years. It was the system that powered the country over the majority of its history, for the vast majority of its expansion and rise to power. But it's so obviously a joke of a system?
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - generj 4y ago
        It didn’t work well at all. We had frequent economic panics all through the 1800s and early 1900s. When the US rose to power (1930s to 1940s) gold was mostly not used in practice due to international traffic being mostly blocked (due to nationalist impulses during the Depression) or under heavy credit (during WW2). There’s a decent argument to be made gold caused the Great Depression or at least exacerbated it. The “gold standard” system that started under Breton Woods (1944-1971) was basically a polite fiction, and when someone called the fiction it died. A gold standard would be totally unworkable for today’s trade. It barely served the fledgling globalism of the 1920s.
      - 7speter 4y ago
        >worked well enough for this country for hundreds of years. If I remember my numbers from an economics course right, from 1776-1912, there were major runs on banks in the US an average of every 12 years. While the US didn't leave the gold standard until 1933, the fed, after it learned not to drastically raise interest rates quickly in 1929, has kept things pretty stable for almost a century.
- kansface 4y ago
  I’d prefer to have technocrats with accountability like generals in the military. Having said that, WW2 was the last time that we fired brass for incompetence.
  - csense 4y ago
    > WW2 was the last time that we fired brass for incompetence I don't think this is true. Two examples that immediately spring to mind because they've been in the news: - In 2014, Michael Flynn was fired from the DIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flynn#Defense_Intelligence_Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flynn#Defense_Intellig... - In 2017, the Navy removed a rear admiral and a captain when a destroyer collided with a civilian tanker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_S._McCain_and_Alnic_MC_collision#Investigation_of_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_S._McCain_and_Alnic_M...
    - remarkEon 4y ago
      We spent 20 years toiling in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Multiple operational and strategic failures throughout, up to and including the “withdrawal” from Kabul. No one was fired for this incompetence, but McChrystal was fired for bad mouthing the president to a journalist.
pylua 4y ago
Not only is there no individual accountability, but there is also no entity cleansing function. If a company ran the way the government runs the economy it may not exist. Poor government policies are replaced by more radical policies designed to keep the ship from going under.
spywaregorilla 4y ago
Was there a war in ukraine last year and a large energy crisis threatening europe?
- Proven 4y ago
Georgelemental 4y ago
Tbf Jerome Powell et all had 0 control over the trillions in stimulus spending. How much can you fault them for trying to appease the lunatics in Congress?
- 7speter 4y ago
  >Tbf Jerome Powell et all had 0 control over the trillions in stimulus spending. Right, the fed injected trillions into the economy via monetary policy. Sources to start: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-federalreserve-mar-idUSKCN24E13G https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-federa... https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/fed-repo-trillions-added-to-fight-coronavirus-economic-risk-recession-2020-3-1028991278 https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/fed-repo-tri... https://www.investopedia.com/government-stimulus-efforts-to-fight-the-covid-19-crisis-4799723 https://www.investopedia.com/government-stimulus-efforts-to-... I don't have a final number but please stop spreading disinformation, whether in bad faith or not.
  - imtringued 4y ago
    Ok now what? Are you going to reduce the money supply? I don't think so. Nobody wants to reduce the money supply because that would be theft or expropriation or whatever convenient excuse. So instead there is inflation/expansion of the money supply.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
danielmarkbruce 4y ago
What if they are right? If it's 12-18 months of 8-9% inflation, it's probably fair to call it transitory. We just had 12 months of inflation during a wicked supply chain storm after a pandemic, and a war which has further squeezed energy prices. Here is a chart from bls: https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-pri... Notice when it last went above 5%? When oil hit 140+ back in 2008. Energy prices ripple through a lot of categories. If energy tanks, and it always has, we might fly back to 0% inflation in a hurry. Powell might not have a crystal ball, but he's no dummy.

mikkergp 4y ago

If only the fed could be run by people with the benefit of hindsight.

dixie_land 4y ago

It doesn’t even take a Monday morning quarterback to know pumping 4 trillions at the beginning of Covid is going to have consequences.

jc_811 4y ago

Would you rather have elected officials running the backbone of the entire economy? Officials who have to campaign and constantly worry about the next election cycle? Officials who will care much more about the short-term at the expense of the long-term since that is what keeps them elected? Neither system is ideal, but there are certainly reasons for the system being set up the way it is. Since you decided to bring up the issue, what would your proposed solution be? How should the FED system be set up in regard to officials, appointments, elections, etc. Genuinely curious as to what your thoughts are since I haven't been able to dream up an ideal scenario in my own mind.

mercy_dude 4y ago
Because that’s how democracy is supposed to work. Ultimately democracy is not about bringing the most competent people around. It’s so peoples voice matters so when push comes to shove, we don’t become like Sri Lanka. Also I am not convinced Fed is apolitical. The proposed solution would be to go back to gold standard and Fed not have the power to seize it like Roosevelt did. So we need no fake money and fake policies around it.
- rat87 4y ago
  I'm pretty sure the gold standard is seen as a joke but the vast majority of economists. During the great depression countries who went off gold standard first recovered more quickly. Roosevelt did the right thing
  - mercy_dude 4y ago
    The same economists who also thought inflation is transitory.
  - Grim-444 4y ago
    I'm always confused at how there's such a seemingly large mismatch between on one hand people trivially dismissing the gold standard as a joke and on the other the fact that the gold standard seemingly worked well enough for this country for hundreds of years. It was the system that powered the country over the majority of its history, for the vast majority of its expansion and rise to power. But it's so obviously a joke of a system?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - generj 4y ago
      It didn’t work well at all. We had frequent economic panics all through the 1800s and early 1900s. When the US rose to power (1930s to 1940s) gold was mostly not used in practice due to international traffic being mostly blocked (due to nationalist impulses during the Depression) or under heavy credit (during WW2). There’s a decent argument to be made gold caused the Great Depression or at least exacerbated it. The “gold standard” system that started under Breton Woods (1944-1971) was basically a polite fiction, and when someone called the fiction it died. A gold standard would be totally unworkable for today’s trade. It barely served the fledgling globalism of the 1920s.
    - 7speter 4y ago
      >worked well enough for this country for hundreds of years. If I remember my numbers from an economics course right, from 1776-1912, there were major runs on banks in the US an average of every 12 years. While the US didn't leave the gold standard until 1933, the fed, after it learned not to drastically raise interest rates quickly in 1929, has kept things pretty stable for almost a century.
kansface 4y ago
I’d prefer to have technocrats with accountability like generals in the military. Having said that, WW2 was the last time that we fired brass for incompetence.
- csense 4y ago
  > WW2 was the last time that we fired brass for incompetence I don't think this is true. Two examples that immediately spring to mind because they've been in the news: - In 2014, Michael Flynn was fired from the DIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flynn#Defense_Intelligence_Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flynn#Defense_Intellig... - In 2017, the Navy removed a rear admiral and a captain when a destroyer collided with a civilian tanker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_S._McCain_and_Alnic_MC_collision#Investigation_of_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_S._McCain_and_Alnic_M...
  - remarkEon 4y ago
    We spent 20 years toiling in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Multiple operational and strategic failures throughout, up to and including the “withdrawal” from Kabul. No one was fired for this incompetence, but McChrystal was fired for bad mouthing the president to a journalist.

pylua 4y ago

Not only is there no individual accountability, but there is also no entity cleansing function. If a company ran the way the government runs the economy it may not exist. Poor government policies are replaced by more radical policies designed to keep the ship from going under.

spywaregorilla 4y ago

Was there a war in ukraine last year and a large energy crisis threatening europe?

Proven 4y ago

Georgelemental 4y ago

Tbf Jerome Powell et all had 0 control over the trillions in stimulus spending. How much can you fault them for trying to appease the lunatics in Congress?

7speter 4y ago
>Tbf Jerome Powell et all had 0 control over the trillions in stimulus spending. Right, the fed injected trillions into the economy via monetary policy. Sources to start: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-federalreserve-mar-idUSKCN24E13G https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-federa... https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/fed-repo-trillions-added-to-fight-coronavirus-economic-risk-recession-2020-3-1028991278 https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/fed-repo-tri... https://www.investopedia.com/government-stimulus-efforts-to-fight-the-covid-19-crisis-4799723 https://www.investopedia.com/government-stimulus-efforts-to-... I don't have a final number but please stop spreading disinformation, whether in bad faith or not.
- imtringued 4y ago
  Ok now what? Are you going to reduce the money supply? I don't think so. Nobody wants to reduce the money supply because that would be theft or expropriation or whatever convenient excuse. So instead there is inflation/expansion of the money supply.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

danielmarkbruce 4y ago

What if they are right? If it's 12-18 months of 8-9% inflation, it's probably fair to call it transitory. We just had 12 months of inflation during a wicked supply chain storm after a pandemic, and a war which has further squeezed energy prices. Here is a chart from bls: https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-pri... Notice when it last went above 5%? When oil hit 140+ back in 2008. Energy prices ripple through a lot of categories. If energy tanks, and it always has, we might fly back to 0% inflation in a hurry. Powell might not have a crystal ball, but he's no dummy.