He's Puzzled?

[flatsixes]

Generally, I like Ben Bernanke. I often don't agree with him policy-wise, but the way I figure it, the only nice guy with a beard that's got a tougher job than ol' Ben is Santa Claus, and the latter only has to do the impossible one night a year.

But this story makes me wonder whether The Bearded One may not have spent too long at the punch bowl.

Bernanke puzzled by weak consumer spending
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he's surprised by how cautious consumers have been in the two years since the recession officially ended. But the Fed chief offered no hints of any steps the Fed would take to boost the weak economy.

Bernanke said Thursday that a number of factors are keeping consumers from spending more, including high unemployment, a temporary spike in energy prices, falling home prices and high debt burdens.
"Even taking into account the many financial pressures they face, households seem exceptionally cautious," Bernanke said, according to a transcript of a speech his is giving in Minneapolis.

I mean really! Besides "high unemployment, high energy (and food) prices, and high debt burdens" why aren't more Americans blowing the next month's mortgage payment on a cool new TV?

It's puzzling all right. But only at the top.

[vienna]

It's puzzling all right. But only at the top.

Gee, it maust be great to have a high paying, quasi-governmental job...

This kind of brings to mind a quote attributed to Ronald Reagan: When, as President, leaving a government function, a reporter shouted out the question "How do you feel about the unemployment problem", Reagan answered back, "What problem? All my friends are working." ...

[flatsixes]

Originally Posted by vienna

Gee, it maust be great to have a high paying, quasi-governmental job...

This kind of brings to mind a quote attributed to Ronald Reagan: When, as President, leaving a government function, a reporter shouted out the question "How do you feel about the unemployment problem", Reagan answered back, "What problem? All my friends are working." ...

Well, I can't say that I ever heard that Ronald Reagan "quote" before. It doesn't at all sound like something that he (or any other president or politician) would say aloud, even in jest. Probably baloney (the quote, not the sentiment of your comment).

[Platapus]

Yeah, I would like to see a citation for that "quote' Reagan was clueless about a lot of stuff, but he was skilled in public communication. I doubt he would have ever said that on mic.

[vienna]

As I said above, "attributed" quote; I do recall seeing a bit of a film clip at the time showing Reagan making the comment. He was answering the question in an obviously joking fashion and I do not think with any real ill intent. I also recall a small bit of fallout that was handled by presidential spokespersons in the manner of "What the President meant to say..." Quite a few Reagan utterances were given the "What the President meant to say..." reinterpretataion. A friend of mine who was of the further left leaning ilk also made note of the quote to me about a day after Reagan spoke it. I did a quick Google search and found someone else who used the quote, but didn't give chapter and verse. I will check later to see if I can find a proper attribution; I'm rather curious about it myslef, now...

[Tchocky]

Google only gives one answer - http://www.google.com/search?num=100...0l0l0l0l0ll0l0

[vienna]

No, there is one other listing that I found on a quick, cursory Google check:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=us

About the 5th post down; as I said before, no chapter and verse; but, at least, someone has heard of it. I will delve more as time allows.

BTW, Google searches are often more effective if you phrase you query in different ways; I did mine as [Reagan "all of my friends are working"]. Google is grea,t but, merely pasting in a string of text doesn't return all of the pssibilities out there on the Internet. Sometimes you have to reshape your query to eke out the more obscure possibilities. Just a helpful household tip from someone who has done a lot of researching, both pre- and post-internet...

[Platapus]

Ah well if Sarah posted it on some forum on the Internets Tubes, that's all the citation I need. Sarah wouldn't BS me.

[vienna]

I'm still going to try and dig out an original citation; curiosity has gotten the better of me...

[flatsixes]

Now this is classic Reagan:

Tonight, in homes across this country, unemployment is the problem uppermost on many people's minds. Getting Americans back to work is an urgent priority for all of us and especially for this administration. But remember, you can't solve unemployment without solving the things that caused it, the out-of-control government spending, the skyrocketing inflation and interest rates that led to unemployment in the first place. Unless you get at the root causes of the problem -- which is exactly what our economic program is doing -- you may be able to temporarily relieve the symptoms, but you'll never cure the disease. You may even make it worse.

I have a special reason for wanting to solve this problem in a lasting way. I was 21 and looking for work in 1932, one of the worst years of the Great Depression. And I can remember one bleak night in the thirties when my father learned on Christmas Eve that he'd lost his job. To be young in my generation was to feel that your future had been mortgaged out from under you, and that's a tragic mistake we must never allow our leaders to make again. Today's young people must never be held hostage to the mistakes of the past. The only way to avoid making those mistakes again is to learn from them.

The pounding economic hangover America's suffering from didn't come about overnight. And there's no single instant cure. In recent weeks, a lot of people have been playing what I call the ``blame game.'' The accusing finger has been pointed in every direction of the compass, and a lot of time and hot air have been spent looking for scapegoats.

Well, there's plenty of blame to go around. The problems we face are bigger than any one party or group of people. They're the result not of weeks or months, but of years, even decades of past mistakes. The problem isn't who to blame; it's what to blame. So, tonight, let's forget about party politics and take a look at how our country got into this fix and what we can do to get her out of it.

Agree or disagree with his policies, when it came to getting an idea across Reagan was the absolute master.