The Hill: GOP lawmakers warn Bernanke against QE 3

08/26/11 by Alexander Bolton - House Republican lawmakers are warning Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to refrain from another round of quantitative easing, which they say could accelerate inflation. ✧ Bernanke is scheduled to speak at a Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., today, Friday morning at 10 a.m. ✧ At the same conference last year, Bernanke launched the second round of the Fed’s treasury purchasing program, which became known as QE2. Read more at The Hill...

"Opposition to a third round of quantitative easing has spread beyond the Tea Party to establishment Republicans and even some Democrats."

UPDATE: Phew! Bernanke did NOT suggest another round of quantitative easing at this conference. --bc
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CNBC: Secret Walmart Survey Shows Inflation Already Here

11/11/2010 - There might not have been a second round of quantitative easing, if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke shopped at Walmart. ∴ A new pricing survey of products sold at the world’s largest retailer [WMT 53.95 -0.18 (-0.33%)] showed a 0.6 percent price increase in just the last two months, according to MKM Partners. At that rate, prices would be close to four percent higher a year from now, double the Fed’s mandate. Read more at CNBC...
(Hat tip: Glenn Beck 11/15) Read More......

NRO: Palin to Bernanke: 'Cease and Desist'

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE 11/7/2010 by Robert Costa - Snippets from Sarah Palin's prepared remarks:

I’m deeply concerned about the Federal Reserve’s plans to buy up anywhere from $600 billion to as much as $1 trillion of government securities. The technical term for it is “quantitative easing.” It means our government is pumping money into the banking system by buying up treasury bonds. And where, you may ask, are we getting the money to pay for all this? We’re printing it out of thin air.

The Fed hopes doing this may buy us a little temporary economic growth by supplying banks with extra cash which they could then lend out to businesses. But it’s far from certain this will even work. After all, the problem isn’t that banks don’t have enough cash on hand – it’s that they don’t want to lend it out, because they don’t trust the current economic climate. Read more at NRO...

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Argentina: A lesson for America

WASHINGTON TIMES, 2/21/09 by Jeffrey Kuhner (Hat tip: Stella Guenther) - The disastrous path on which America is currently embarked was tried in another country. A fact not well known is that Argentina, prior to World War II, was an economic powerhouse. Beginning in the 1880s and continuing through the 1920s and 1930s, it was regarded as one of the most prosperous and advanced nations in the world. Then Juan Peron and his wife Eva took control in the 1940s until a coup in 1955 ousted them from power. ∴ Argentina had a strong industrial base, thriving agricultural exports, huge cattle ranches, and a broad and expanding middle class. Like America, it served as a magnet for immigrants from all over the world, especially Italians. Within 15 years under the Perons, Argentina, however, went from being one of the richest to one of the poorest countries. To date it has never fully recovered.

Upon coming to office, Peron, along with his popular beautiful wife, Eva, created a state characterized by lavish social spending, elaborate welfare programs, protectionism, confiscatory taxation, and runaway deficits. Juan Peron used class warfare rhetoric. He attacked big business, the banks, the private corporations, and the propertied class. He gave the labor unions power and made them pivotal allies of his regime. Then Peron expanded the bloated government bureaucracy to intervene in every aspect of business and life, which led to internal corruption.

Peron's central socialist economic planning destroyed industrial productivity and growth. The world's investment capital fled. Taxes, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates soared and the middle class was wiped out. Finally, an independent judiciary and media ceased to exist. Eva's cult of supporters fostered a climate of violence and political enemies of the regime were exterminated. Argentina degenerated into the typical debt-ridden Latin American country that it still is today.

The failure of Argentina under Peron should serve as a warning to us. Socialism and a sky-rocketing debt can permanently impoverish even the wealthiest of nations and America is not immune from the laws of economics.

Obama is taking the first dangerous steps toward an American version of Peronism. His followers see him as a political messiah and a revolutionary change agent. He and the Democrats are plundering the country, using it as a vehicle to reward supporters and punish foes. They plan to confiscate wealth by taxing the rich and successful business class. Obama's plan to do away with secret ballets will strengthen the labor unions. His wife, Michelle, is the Eva Peron of our time, a glamorous, chic, socialist fashion trend-setter who is beloved by the media.

Just remember, "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Read More......