"Today's economic conditions are difficult, but the foundations of our economy are strong, and we face no problems that cannot be overcome with insight, patience, and persistence." Fed Bank Chairman, Ben Bernanke, yesterday, in a talk delivered in Atlanta.
That whole statement there make you go..."where did I hear that before?" Follow my lead here - replace the word "foundation" with "fundamentals" - does that jog your memory....yeah!! it did, didn't it? So I will not go into that... okay?
According to Bloomberg, today, April 15, 2009 ( Tax Day) "The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. fell last week for the first time in more than a month, indicating any stabilization in housing will be slow to materialize even as borrowing costs drop.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's index of applications to purchase a home or refinance a loan decreased 11 percent to 1,113.2 in the week ended April 10, the lowest level in a month, from 1,250.6 the prior week. The group's refinancing gauge and purchase measure each dropped 11 percent. "
The Bloomberg report recalls that "Increases in home sales and residential construction have been among the signs Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke says show the economic slump is starting to slow."
The Fed Chairman acknowledged the development in his Atlanta address yesterday when he said "Recently we have seen tentative signs hat the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing, for example, in data on home sales, home building and consumer spending including the sales on new motor vehicles."
So my question to you is: Did Mr Bernanke read the Mortgage Bankers Association report? If so, Did he read it while standing on his head? Did he read it from right to left? As if any of those activities would have aided his comprehension. Maybe he saw other reports which he choose not to divulge - Could his statement be seen as political posturing - sending a positive message - or is it just politics posturing - How long were we seeing and experiencing recessionary trends - can anyone recall the political posturing at the time - the country was told that everything was alright - there were no recession - when confronted with the facts of the economic situation in the U.S. Bush II responded by saying that he would not call it a recession unless the economists called it a recession - was that politics posturing, or what?
Where was Bernanke - Why did he not state the obvious? Was the lack of a timely and factual statement on the economy a deliberate act of political posturing, or was it politics posturing in the heated and hotly contested political years leading up to the recent Presidential Elections.
So now all the pain and suffering which could have been so much less severe had those who were expected to do their jobs without fear of favor had done so, rather than choosing to wade in waters they are not familiar with.
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