Ben Bernanke

“Don’t just do something, stand there,” President Ronald Reagan once advised his staff.

A businessman and investor for whose judgment I have the highest regard sends this email about yesterday’s Fed announcement:

"Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'"

"McConnell Turns the Tables on Budget Vote."

The Ben Bernanke word cloud: "For bonus points try to find the word 'jobs' in there."

In a hearing, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin asked Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke if he believes that one of the keys to short-term economic growth is a long-term plan to put America's fiscal policy in order. Bernanke replied, "Correct."

Watch it here:

If Barack Obama were looking for a further boost in his popularity from the new jobs data, he'd be disappointed.

It didn't take long for the Federal Reserve to come under fire for its resumption of asset purchases, aka "QE2", announced at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on November 3.

Enjoy:

This is a tale of two printing presses.

The Federal Reserve’s decision last week to initiate another round of quantitative easing has had its defenders and its critics.

On November 2, voters gave Republicans historic gains in the House and above-average gains in the Senate in a vote for reduced spending, less intrusive government, and low taxes. On November 3, the Federal Reserve voted to resume direct purchases of Treasury securities in order to promote economic growth. One downside will be the further depreciation of the dollar. Another will be the spectre of future inflation as all America's bills must come due eventually.

Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, is the only significant public official on record in opposition to the easy-money, zero-interest-rate monetary policy being pursued by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. So there were multiple layers of irony when Hoenig journeyed to Lenexa, Kansas, on September 23 to deliver a dinner speech to the Hope for America Coalition, a local affiliate of the Tea Party movement.

It’s the policies, stupid. That should be the guiding light for everyone trying to figure out the course of the U.S. economy for the rest of the year.