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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Income inequality is Fed policy

I was in my neighborhood butcher shop getting an estimate on a porterhouse when I perceived the strident chimes and hushed faux British accent that could only come from NPR. The subject chosen for analysis was income inequality and it was breathlessly reported that even the Grand Dame of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen had chosen to take up Occupy wall Street's and the Democratic Party's favorite talking point.
Even with the trappings of her official capacity it's hard for Yellen to sound eloquent owing to her harsh Jewish Brooklyn accent. One keeps waiting for her to do her Bugs Bunny impression.
“The wealthiest 5 percent of American households held 54 percent of all wealth reported in the 1989 survey. Their share rose to 61 percent in 2010 and reached 63 percent in 2013;
“The lower half of households by wealth, held just 3 percent of wealth in 1989 and only 1 percent in 2013. To put that in perspective…the average net worth of the lower half of the distribution, representing 62 million households, was $11,000 in 2013.”
“This $11,000 average is 50 percent lower than the average wealth of the lower half of families in 1989, adjusted for inflation."
"A bee a blee a blee that all folks"
As Chesterfield said, the posture is ridiculous. It is not unlike a surgeon inveighing against the high rate of morbidity in his own operating room. It's almost an Obamaesque, passive voiced "mistakes were made" non apology. Give us a break lady! It is you, not Glenn Beck, who is pumping $85 billion into the economy each and every month as you attempt to achieve prosperity through inflation. Note bene! The lower 50 percent did not have their wages cut in half since 1989 they had their purchasing power gutted by the very inflation that you champion. And now we have income inequality, the worst we've seen in a hundred years. Imagine that! Take a bow!
It is the Federal Reserve that has defended the Dow averages at the expense of the dollar. Following the Fed's, Obama's, and Yellen's logic when the Dow is at 50,000 and the dollar is worthless we all be happy in dream world of "inequality for everyone".
Here the Republican are really missing the boat by allowing themselves to be blamed for Obama's failed economic policies. Forget the poor. They are doing just fine with their Obama phones and food stamps. It is the middle class that is being hollowed out. Republicans should ignore the lofty sounding income inequality shtick and embrace the fight against the high cost of living. That phrase is honest, unpretentious, and understandable to middle class voters who pay as much 24% on credit card debt while receiving a measly 1% return on the bank savings. Even in Jimmy Carter's days savers at least got a toaster when they opened an account.
Simply put Republicans should make living cheaper. Government policies that drive up the cost of anything should be fought, be they farm price supports, sugar import quotas, ethanol mandates, automotive CAFE standards, appliance energy efficiency standards and student loans to name a few. They should demand a strong dollar and the protection of job opportunities from illegal immigrants. The Democrats have waged war on the middle class for decades. It's time they got the credit they deserve.

1 comment:

  1. Well put. Whenever the GOP differentiates or opposes the Dems on economic issues, they usually win. When they go along with K Street and position themselves as the morally superior twin and give us Doles and Delays and Santorums, they lose.

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