The Amazing Federal Reserve Reality TV Show
The diminutive gentleman sitting behind the enormous prop desk of the premier episode of the “The Amazing Federal Reserve” was none other than Chairman Ben Bernanke. The momentous occasion was billed as the “first press conference ever.” The unusual YouTube hour had all the staged contrivance of a tacky reality TV show. Fanfare leading up to the April 27 premier was much more exciting than the disappointing rhetoric that filled it. Like the fake reality show it is, the Federal Reserve wants Americans to believe that all is well in the hinterland.
One of the first “spins” spun by the Fed Chief was his statement that national unemployment haddecreased nearly one percent over the last few months to 8.8%. His Chiefness failed to mention that the “99ers,” those poor schmucks that collected unemployment for 99 weeks with no hope of becoming reemployed, are off the unemployment rolls—for good. His Chiefness also failed to mention the tens of millions of small business owners, freelancers, consultants, and sole proprietors without access to unemployment insurance who have tapped out friends and family in a desperate struggle for survival in the 2.5 years since Wall Street self-destructed.
The Fed Chief’s soft spoken and unthreatening intellectual demeanor is temperamentally better suited to public discourse than his predecessor, Alan Greenspan. Former Fed Chief Greenspan ruled over the Federal Reserve, and subsequently U.S. monetary policy, like the perfect money monarch that he was for two decades. His long reign of free market euphoria ultimately ended like a vomiting chorus following fraternity pledge week of unlimited shots and bad behavior.
Is this a face we can trust, wondered those watching the Fed’s Reality Star? The secretive money-milking Federal Reserve is growing increasingly suspect for an outraged and frustrated American public. The simple staging of the rare press conference by the 98 year-old Federal Reserve is an act of desperation that was hard to miss. The multi-media appearance was meant to calm fears around a modest and suspicious “recovery.” Yet no matter how much sugar they pour on this baby, there is no way to convince a financially challenged America that the economy is getting “better.”
It’s About Jobs, Stupid!
Of the many tasks at the Federal Reserve, “full employment” is a core responsibility.
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Monika Mitchell
Executive Director
Good Business International, Inc.
Economy of Trust Blog