Monday, November 10, 2008

Lions, Tigers, and Bears - Oh My!

First, the $2 Trillion in federal bailout loans that the Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of. The only justified reason I can think of, off the top of my head, that they would have for not releasing the data is that the recipients are businesses that investors would be shocked and disturbed to learn were in need of a bailout. Butttttt..... It seems that if it is illegal for a company to misrepresent its earnings, it is at least shady for the purchasing of that companies stock by the government in a bailout fashion - or even emergency loans from the FED. Also, shouldn't the very fact that the FED isn't being transparent in their actions make investors less secure?

Second - Obama has appointed Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm to his council of economic advisers. Yes, that's right, the same Granholm who has demolished the Michigan economy in six years. She thought it was smart to "close" a state budget shortfall by raising the tax on gas this summer, raising the taxes on small businesses, and expanding the scope of the sales tax.

No wonder it costs 300% as much to hire a moving service to move you out of Michigan as to move you in. Supply and demand and all that.

More later. Sure is a lot of stupidness going on right now.

2 comments:

Jason said...

The Fed is transparent in that it is subject to the oversight of Congress. Is twice a year not fast enough? The intent of Congress in shaping the Federal Reserve Act was to keep politics out of monetary policy. Legislation requires that the Federal Reserve reports annually on its activities to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

http://nomedals.blogspot.com

Nathan said...

Ohhh, I agree with you that politics should be kept from monetary policy (assuming that actually is still the case). Rather, I question the need for the additional funds authorized by congress as the "bailout". In particular, I take issue with the bill of goods sold to all Americans during those hearings - the idea that congress had to authorize the $700B or the FED couldn't do anything.