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Yawn: UN Security Council Votes For More Sanctions Against Iran UPDATE: Just How Weak These So Called "Sanctions" Are »
June 09, 2010
Helicopter Ben: Steady As She Goes, Boys
Ben Bernanke, the head of the US Federal Reserve, met with the House Budget Committee and re-iterated his view that the US economy is improving, though slowly. He also pledged to keep interest rates low for the forseeable future. He seems to think that consumer spending (with borrowed money) will somehow pull the economy out of the doldrums. (He also makes a hand-wave at "business investment", but fails to explain how this is going to happen given the current regulatory environment and looming entitlement costs.)
“Achieving long-term fiscal sustainability will be difficult,” Bernanke said today. “But unless we as a nation make a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth.”
In short, Bernanke is echoing Augustine of Hippo's famous epigram: "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet."