'Helicopter Ben' Reborn as 'Banana Ben' Bernanke

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'Helicopter Ben' Reborn as 'Banana Ben' Bernanke

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Ben Bernanke earned the nickname "Helicopter Ben" for comments he made in a November 2002 speech, Deflation: Making Sure "It" Doesn't Happen Here, delivered at the National Economists Club in Washington, D.C. More than six years later, some are wont to apply a new nickname, "Banana Ben," to the Federal Reserve chairman.

He has earned the new name, writes Michael Pento at his FXStreet.com, because of his desire to make the United States resemble a banana republic instead of embracing the policies that made the U.S. the greatest nation on earth.

It is now abundantly clear to all that not only the Fed Chairman but also this administration will do everything in their power to create inflation, he continues. Their efforts are derived from the mistaken belief that inflation can solve everything.

Most important among Pento's observations, however, are those that appear below, aimed at President Barack Obama:

Further, what might surprise the new President—allegedly a champion of the poor—is that an increased supply of money is never evenly distributed throughout the economy; it always finds a home with the nation’s most wealthy citizens who have access to credit first. Skyrocketing prices relegate the middle and lower classes to use all their available funds for the basic necessities of life. Since the demand for discretionary purchases collapses, unemployment rates explode and the economy is left in shambles.

Welcome to the "Land of 'Hope and Change.'"

Cartoon courtesy: My Personal Litmus

-- Bob McCarty Writes