Greenspan's retiring - paging all Thunder Gods

[Nev]

Bush has announced his recommendation for a successor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Bernanke

Zeus, I'd like to page you on this one. I don't know enough about economics to know how to assess this man, but I do know that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is a ridiculously crucial job for U.S. finanical stability. Do you know much about this, and what the prognosis is?

[SineSwiper]

For what I've heard, his replacement is actually qualified for the job, because Republicans give a shit about money, unlike, say, black people :P

[Nev]

Psst!

Add a clarifier to your post to clear up your intended meaning - i.e., that Republicans don't care about black people, not that black people don't care about money.

Of course, it's still pretty incendiary either way.

[SineSwiper]

Well, I was making fun of that Kayne comment. It's a running joke in Fark.

[Zeus]

Sorry, was gone for a few days for ridiculous work training

Don't know much, per se, but what I do know is that these guys aren't alone, they've got huge staffs of real economists who help them acheive what they want. They really don't need to know what they're doing, just take orders from the administration. Economic policy is based on manipulation of the masses to get what you want at the end of the day. The banking system in the US is different than it is up here, so I can't say exactly how it works down there. Sorry

[Julius Seeker]

If Republicans care about money, than why has Bush nearly doubled the national debt to more than 8 trillion dollars (it passed 8 trillion earlier this week)?

[SineSwiper]

Such an overasked question. You're just preaching to the choir.

[Nev]

If Republicans care about money, than why has Bush nearly doubled the national debt to more than 8 trillion dollars (it passed 8 trillion earlier this week)?

No, no, see...the national debt is what one would call, in formal economic terms, "our" money. The Bush administration cares about something else that one would call (again, in formal economic terms) "their" money.

Since the national debt isn't "their" money, it's not important enough to take care of.

Kind of a complicated distinction, I know.