No change from Bernanke on monetary policy

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke held a rare press conference immediately following a meeting addressing US monetary policy.

Just prior to the meeting on April 25the US dollar fell to new lows against the British Pound and Euro and even managed to fall to its lowest level ever against the Swiss Franc and Australian dollar on an expectation the Fed would announce little or no changes to America’s weak monetary policy and resistance to raising interest rates.Karl Denninger from The Market Ticker explained that Bernanke plans to sacrifice the US dollar in favor of his preferred policies. “He’s [Bernanke] allowed the federal government to run an enormous deficit,” Denninger said. “As long as that policy continues, when you dilute something and have more of it, the value of it goes down. That’s what’s happening with the dollar.”He explained US monetary policy continues to hurt the market and damage the US dollar against other major currencies. “While Ben was speaking gasoline prices in the futures market went up six cents,” Denninger noted. “Monetary manipulation is actually opposite of what capitalism is all about. You can’t fix interest rates. Look at the last three years – no new jobs, still 33 million people unemployed, the money now sits in the reserves and now is leaking out and going into commodities and now we have inflation,” Republican Congressman Ron Paul said speaking on CNBC critiquing the Fed. The press conference, although what was said was not what most wanted to hear, is a positive step in transparency argued some. But, it is only transparent if the Fed is honest, said Denninger. “He testifies in front of Congress twice a year too, and yet he says things that are later proven not to be the case,” Denninger said. The press conference does not change how the Fed operates. The US Congress controls the Fed, explains Denninger, it created the Fed and can take its power away.“The idea that the Federal Reserve acts on its own is absolute lunacy,” he remarked. Gerald Celente, the director of the Trend Research Institute in New York said the rise in gold and silver prices following the press conference says everything Americans need to know about Fed policy – the dollar is going to suffer. “It’s the devaluation of the dollar,” he said. “Anybody who would believe anything that Bernanke says should have his head examined.” Bernanke boasts a record of failure and inaccuracy, Celente explained. His policies routinely drive the dollar down and scare investors away. The press conference is all talk, he said. It’s just being used to placate the American people.