Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Weak Economy Blames Fed for High Energy, Food Prices

Let the finger pointing continue.

Fed: High energy, food prices keep economy weak

Federal Reserve blames high energy, food prices for a weak economy heading into summer

Since there is no powerful "weak economy" lobby in Washington, please allow me to speak on its behalf. The Fed is claiming that inanimate objects such as food and energy are to blame? The weak economy wishes to know why poor workmen (not to be confused with Chinese workers) always blame their tools. The weak economy also wonders why the blame is being put on supposedly trivial non-core items of the CPI. The weak economy thought it was widely understood those items could be safely ignored. Now the Fed isn't ignoring them, they're dwelling on them? Whose grand monetary defense scheme was this anyway? Does that mean we won't be seeing any more Hail Mary helicopter drops?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy remained "generally weak" heading into summer as rising costs for energy and food pounded consumers and forced some companies to push their own prices higher.

The economy would like to point out that it has been generally weak for eight years. If not for the swift Fed action of biblically low interest rates it may have keeled completely over. The weak economy sarcastically asks why interest rates aren't just kept at zero percent long-term since things worked out fantastic using the power of hindsight (according to the Fed anyway, since it isn't blaming itself).

Those rising prices carry the risk of both spreading inflation and putting another drag on overall economic growth.

The weak economy has just sprayed beverage through its nose (beverage I might add that was hoarded at Costco, not purchased at a sit down restaurant). The weak economy had been working under the apparent mistaken assumption that rising prices and inflation were more than simply correlated. The weak economy wishes to apologize for the use of its questionable nose spraying debate tactics though. It was not intentional.

Bernanke, in a speech earlier this week, downplayed the big jump in the jobless rate, saying the danger that the economy has fallen into a "substantial downturn" appears to have waned over the past month or so.

The weak economy wishes to know what data Bernanke is looking at. The employment reports? The price of oil? The latest round of multi-billion dollar bank confessions? The rising foreclosure rates? Extremely high housing inventory? Falling home prices? The recent "strength" in the stock market? Presidential popularity polls? Maybe it is mood rings. Nope. That can't be it either. Consumer sentiment stinks. About the only thing left to consult is the sarcastic ball. Yeah, that must be it.

The Fed "will strongly resist an erosion of longer-term inflation expectations, as an unanchoring of those expectations would be destabilizing for growth as well as for inflation," the Fed chief said Monday evening.

The weak economy attempted to take another sip of its beverage. Bad timing!! It is hard to get more information out of the weak economy right now. It is belly laughing as it digests the implications of higher interest rates to the housing market and the very banking system Bernanke is so quick to protect. The weak economy cackles, "The Fed will resist much like a simple cork resists the power of the frozen liquidity cannon!"

No comments: