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34
Donald's fury and it's limitations.
The Famous Open Letter to Ben Bernanke (2010) In November 2010, a group of economists, academics, and financial professionals sent an open letter to Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, warning against the Fed’s plan to implement QE2 (the second round of quantitative easing). 🔮 Their Main Predictions: Inflation Surge: QE would “risk currency debasement and inflation.” Rising Interest Rates: QE would lead to a collapse of confidence in the Fed’s ability to manage the economy, driving up long-term interest rates. Loss of Dollar Confidence: The policy would undermine the credibility of the U.S. dollar and possibly its reserve currency status. No Real Economic Benefit: QE would not meaningfully improve employment or stimulate real economic growth. ✅ What Actually Happened: 1. Inflation Stayed Low (Until Long After QE) From 2010 through the late 2010s, core inflation remained below the Fed’s 2% target, often hovering around 1.5%. The hyperinflation some predicted never materialized. If anything, the Fed struggled to raise inflation to healthy levels. Inflation only surged after massive pandemic-related stimulus in 2021–2022, not directly due to QE alone. 2. Interest Rates Stayed Low Contrary to predictions, long-term interest rates fell, not rose. Investors continued to buy U.S. Treasuries, signaling confidence rather than fear. QE helped lower borrowing costs, which was its intended effect. 3. The Dollar Remained Dominant The U.S. dollar remained the world’s reserve currency and actually strengthened in certain years. Global investors continued to see U.S. assets as safe and desirable, even as the Fed expanded its balance sheet. 4. Economic Growth and Job Recovery Did Occur While the recovery from the Great Recession was slower than ideal, QE helped stabilize financial markets, restore credit flows, and support asset prices. The U.S. saw gradual declines in unemployment, from over 9% in 2010 to below 5% by 2016. Without QE, the recession might have been deeper and longer-lasting. 🧠 Why Did the Predictions Fail? Critics assumed a mechanical relationship between money supply and inflation (e.g., Monetarist views like MV = PQ), ignoring the liquidity trap context of the post-crisis economy. Much of the QE money didn’t circulate in the real economy, but stayed in bank reserves or inflated asset prices. The economy had slack capacity—high unemployment and low demand—which muted inflationary pressures. -
17
Stocks Rise After Bessent Says He Expects Standoff with China to De-Escalate
What absolute rubbish. Australia and the Middle East have so much LNG some of it is flared. Australia itself has 157 trillion cubic feet of gas, and that's not even counting coal seam gas reserves. I have no doubt Australia would be quite happy to sell more gas to China. -
120
Why haven't you learned Thai even after several years as an expat in Thailand?
Every country has its dialects and even in a country like Germany you can encounter situations where people do not understand each others (for example tourists in Bavaria). Also Switzerland has different languages. The main point is to learn at least some basic Thai conversation. I travel often in areas where English is not understood. Even if my Thai is far from perfect I am always able to have basic conversations with locals. Of course in some areas it is more complicated but these cases are rare. -
32
Crime Teen Girl, 17, Shot Dead After Exchange of Looks at Thai BBQ Restaurant
Perhaps a more "streamlined " system of justice is needed ...... Don' t want to meet these nutters in any hospital ! -
15
From Skype to LaLa Land.
Existing Skype credit holders are supposedly getting dial pad option coming to Teams from 5-May onwards to allow them to use up the credit until its zero at same rates as Skype charges to land lines. After that need to move onto something like MyTello for the occassional once a year call to the bank etc. -
54
If you are listening to music - What's Playing ? (2025)
Velvet Revolver - Slither (Official Video)
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