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POPSBank of England holds Base Rate The Bank of England (BoE) has maintained interest rates at 0.5% for the eighth consecutive month. It is also pumping a further £25bn into its quantitative easing programme. Neil Young, chief executive of Young Group, said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is unlikely to make any significant change to the base rate until the economy is firmly back on track.
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POPSRoubini Sees Increasing Risk of Double-Dip Recession: Update1 
“There are risks associated with exit strategies from the massive monetary and fiscal easing,” Roubini wrote. “Policy makers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.” Government and central bank officials may undermine the recovery and tip their economies back into “stagdeflation” if they raise taxes, cut spending and mop up excess liquidity in their systems to reduce fiscal deficits, Roubini says. He defines “stagdeflation” as recession and deflation. Market Vigilantes Those who maintain large budget deficits will be punished by bond market vigilantes, as inflationary expectations and yields on long-term government bonds rise and borrowing costs climb sharply, he wrote. That will in turn lead to stagflation, Roubini said. European Central Bank officials led by President Jean- Claude Trichet are suggesting they won’t rush to reverse their emergency stimulus amid mounting evidence of an economic recovery. The ECB has cut its benchmark interest rate
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POPSThe Nightmare of Rationing in Oregon We as a nation can’t afford to learn the same lesson that Oregon is learning the hard way. A brief look at the state’s rationing policy demonstrates how out of whack the Oregon Health Services Commission’s medical priorities are. For example, under the OHSC directive, a person in need of an emergency appendectomy (prioritized 84th) would be denied that treatment before an individual in need of treatment for “tobacco dependence” (ranked 6th). The state’s prioritization database reads like a case study in medical prioritization turned on its head. Like those pushing preventive care in the current national debate, administrators say the rationing program’s foundational focus is on prevention rather than on actual medical conditions and emergencies. This was borne out of a desire to save the government more money in the long run. However, as always happens when bureaucrats and elected officials are left to work out the nuts and bolts of a program, the determinations . . .
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POPSWorst Depression, not Recession Jackson Hole, Wy, stock piling their supplies before the next global collapse. I wouldn't be surprised to see Barton Biggs, there giving lessons on survival. http://tinyurl.com/m6c9nb
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POPSBuffett Says Debt Could Devolve U.S. Into A "Banana Republic Economy" Last month, in a newspaper column of his own, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, said the huge amounts of money the U.S. central bank has pumped into the economy will not undercut its ability to push borrowing costs higher when the time is ripe. Stressing that the weak U.S. economy will likely warrant exceptionally easy monetary policies for a long time to come, Bernanke outlined in a Wall Street Journal opinion article how the Fed could raise interest rates even with cash flooding the financial system. "At some point, however, as economic recovery takes hold, we will need to tighten monetary policy to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road," Bernanke wrote. The outline of the Fed's "exit strategy" from the extraordinary monetary policy easing it has undertaken in the past two years to deal with the global financial crisis was the subject of testimony to Congress by Bernanke in his twice-a-year economic report on July 21.
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POPSFurther refutation of the Obamoid "settlement freeze" formula Michael Oren is Israel's ambassador to the US. He is also an IDF veteran and a historian of some note. His book, Power, Faith, and Fantasy covers the two-hundred-years US history of relations with Arab/Muslim nations. His article here of course is in support of Netanyahu's policy towards the West Bank. That's to be expected since Oren is Netanyayhu's ambassador. But the point is that Oren/Netanyahu have some facts on their side while the Obamoids only have Power, Faith, and Fantasy
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POPSBarney Frank Admits Overloaded the Schedule, Conyers Cant Read Bills = Aliinsky Rule # 8 - Overwhelm Its amazing what small things you pick up when you actually PAY ATTENTION to the Government as they cover up their tracks. Aside from the Obvious story re: the Transparency and Vision of the Federal Reserve, Cross reference this with another story that dovetails into this one. CHUCK TODD, W.H. Correspondant describes a principle Rahm Emmanual Learned about HOW TO PASS Bills in D.C. "Dont just deal with one big issue.. Any bill Can be killed if you give opposition time to unite and organize around it." ~ Chuck Todd, , political Dir. and chief White House correspondent for NBC News, on Rahm Emmanuel's learning experience from Clinton healthcare crash, and how he intends on fixing that mistake.
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POPSJapan considers abolishing cash more: Other extreme ideas mooted by the financial authorities include a tax on physical currency or introducing one to operate alongside the yen. All three ideas are based on a theory concerning interest rates and the concept that a nominal rate of zero — as Japan has now lived with for much of the past decade — may be too high. In Japan’s case, the theory would suggest that nominal rates of -4 percent might be closer to what is required to rescue the economy from another..
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POPSEconomy Shows Cracks in European Union The article also said: "Germany and France together are the traditional motor of the European Union, but relations between them are cold, with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, putting national interests first, whether the issue is social benefits or saving jobs in the faltering car industry."
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POPSBusiness Phrases you won’t hear in 2009 Business Phrases you won’t hear in 2009. One is Strong and fundamentals and another one is Central bank independence. 2009 global growth predictions of 2.2% (IMF) and 0.9% (World Bank) clear all doubts and the ‘accommodative’ monetary policy is likely to continue in 2009.
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POPSWall-papering with money The Federal Reserve System is a collection of the largest banks in America, who get together to determine monetary policy. As dubious as that is, most people believe their claim that they are just looking after the best interests of the economy–and perhaps they are, and just suck at it.
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