The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Economist Dean Baker Defends Central Banking, If Not The Federal Reserve

Posted on | February 6, 2012 | 9 Comments

by Smitty

Thie is Dean Baker on 03 February at Empire Unplugged. From Wikipedia:

Dean Baker (b. July 13, 1958) is an American macroeconomist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, with Mark Weisbrot. He previously was a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor of economics at Bucknell University. He has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.

Baker comes out as a proponent of central banking in general, though not necessarily a cheerleader for the Federal Reserve in its present state.
As this is purely audio in nature, I’ll save the vertical space and offer the segments as a block of four:

While I think Baker has done an admirable job defending the idea of central banking, the bigger question is, whether, $15.3 trillion later, that dog hunted, that hog punted, and that wog bunted. Baker’s argument that growth was swell when Happy Days was the “reality” of the U.S. situation may not hold water. What the prosperity then comes at the expense of our dot com bubble, housing bubble, and higher ed bubble?
Baker at least agrees that greater transparency is needed. I’m not sure I concur that Bernanke should be so thoroughly scapegoated. The Federal Reserve is not the fire department, only coming out on an acute basis for specific problems. It is more like air traffic controllers, managing continuous traffic flow. Inflating the currency is like putting more and more planes in the air, and hoping that they don’t try to land several at once, killing not only those onboard the flights, but everyone else in the pattern that can’t get elsewhere.
Whatever our political policy becomes, if we are not balancing the budget and making continual reductions on the debt, we are doomed.
I regret that I may not have time to get Jeffrey Tucker’s response processed and posted.

Category: End The Fed

Comments

9 Responses to “Economist Dean Baker Defends Central Banking, If Not The Federal Reserve”

  1. Anonymous
    February 6th, 2012 @ 11:05 am

    Read “The Creature from Jekyll Island,” regarding the formation of the Federal Reserve as a banking cartel to protect the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Morgans, and Warburgs (aka Daddy Warbucks) against competition.

    Read Biblical prophecy.

    See how they intersect.

    Hint: One world bank, one world currency, the world’s wealth management in the hands of a few elites. Control the money supply, control the world.

  2. Bob Belvedere
    February 6th, 2012 @ 1:25 pm

     If you’re going to spout such nonsense, please have the decency to remove Sarah Palin’s picture as your gravatar.

    Sincerely,
    The Illuminati

  3. Anonymous
    February 6th, 2012 @ 1:41 pm

     Is there a /sarc tag missing?

  4. Bob Belvedere
    February 6th, 2012 @ 2:03 pm

    Is your tinfoil hat missing?

  5. ConantheCimmerian
    February 7th, 2012 @ 12:06 am

     http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/06/146467106/obama-signs-order-extending-sanctions-to-property-of-iranian-government?ft=1&f=1001

    From the NPR article:

    “In the order, it’s written that the Central Bank of Iran and other
    Iranian banks have been using “deceptive practices … to conceal
    transactions of sanctioned parties” and that there is an “unacceptable
    risk posed to the international financial system by Iran’s activities.”

    To repeat:
    “unacceptable
    risk posed to the international financial system by Iran’s activities.”

    You are right. Just say “tinfoil, tinfoil, tinfoil!!!11!!”

    Nothing to see here, move along.

  6. ConantheCimmerian
    February 7th, 2012 @ 12:11 am

    When banking big dogs get together and discuss what they are going to do, it is not a conspiracy, it is just doing business.

    Business that seems to do well for them.

    If you can control and manipulate the money supply, what kind of business might you have there?

    What is inflation? If the federal reserve ( a private bank) was in part created to prevent inflation, business cycles, bubbles, then why does it seem to not have much success.

    Tinfoil conspiracy!

     

  7. ConantheCimmerian
    February 7th, 2012 @ 3:57 am

     Ignorant

  8. ConantheCimmerian
    February 7th, 2012 @ 3:58 am

     Boring and ignorant.

  9. Anonymous
    February 7th, 2012 @ 11:21 am

     Guess you haven’t read the books I listed. Keeping your head in the sand doesn’t deny the reality.

    Do. some. research.