Apr

Note to Obama: Hire a Propaganda Czar

We’re on the road to recovery, or are we? That depends on who you ask.

Our tax-cheat Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geither is confident not only that we’re recovering, but that we’ve done it on the cheap. As he recaps in his Washington Post editorial:

America is close to turning the page on this economic crisis. While far too many Americans are still out of work and face deep economic hardship, we have now reported three quarters of positive growth and the beginnings of job creation…. In fact, we are repairing our financial system at much lower cost than anyone anticipated and expect to return hundreds of billions of dollars in available but unused TARP resources to the American people. That is a rare achievement in Washington. [emphasis added]

If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. Maybe two. The broader context of the article is the need for new “reforms” that would include provisions which legalize the breaking up of “too big to fail” banks. This is a convenient tool for government to use to further threaten industry. Moreover, the idea that there are “hundreds of billions of dollars” that are going to be returned to the taxpayer is patently ludicrous. Let’s assume the real number is $300 bil; when am I getting my ~$1,000 check? Does anybody really think they’re about to receive a $1,000 check? Note to gullible readers: the government does not print money in order to issue tax rebates.

Seemingly sympathetic, vaguely optimistic, “wonkish” propaganda from Geither to be sure, but propaganda nonetheless.

On the other hands, the Federal Reserve’s Jeffery Lacker isn’t feeling so warm and fuzzy with the economic picture. From Marketwatch:

“We will need to be careful as the expansion strengthens to keep inflation and inflation expectations in check because experience has shown that an upward drift in inflation expectations can be very costly to unwind,” Lacker says in the address.

Lacker, who was scheduled to appear at the Economic Outlook forum in Morgantown, W. Va., said that while “some stabilization” has become apparent in housing and auto sales, “we are a long way from a full recovery.” [emphasis added]

Who truly understands the mind of a Fed bureaucrat anyway? They are superstitious enough to believe that statistics and financial modeling, when coupled with an electronic printing press, provide prosperity. History, common sense, and logic be damned! It’s the paper money that spurs lazy humans into production, not a genuine desire to live better!

Despite being part of an elite group that suffers grave shortcomings as both economic thinkers and policy makers (traits rather identical to the Obama cabinet), this Fed guy is out of step with the administration. All that statistic collection, number crunching, NASA-like algorithm production and cryptic language is evidently not twistable enough to agree with the Obama White House.

Obama, you need a Propaganda Czar so your efforts at misinformation are not garbled.

Here are some legitimate questions for our high government officials:

When is unemployment going to be under 5%?
Why should we expect small businesses to hire when you’ve just hit them with additional costs with the healthcare bill?
How do you respond to the National Federation of Independent Businesses report that small business confidence is right now at an 8 month low?
When will interest rates be raised?
What’s the inflation outlook? Why is low inflation expected when you’ve intentionally doubled the monetary base?
When rates do rise and the banks begin to loan the over $ 1 trillion in excess reserves, how will this affect prices?
Along the same lines as #6, how do you intend to balance raising rates with spurring lending, which will certainly lead to inflation?
What is to be done with the exploding national debt? How likely is a VAT tax?
What’s the contingency plan if Iran starts a regional war and causes oil prices to spike?

That’s all.

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