The FTSE’s up. The Dow’s up. Mainly, it seems, on talk from Paulson and Bernanke.
And yet, it seems, time has run out for the Fed chairman:
Listening to Bernanke on CNBC right now, it’s not exactly clear why markets are reacting positively.
The Fed chief’s run though of government market interventions so far enacted is a litany of failure. Another stimulus package altogether might be needed, he warns. Then there’s the less intangible stuff: like the fact he sounds a broken man.
So much for talk.
The below chart is from Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture blog a couple of years ago (rediscovered by Yves Smith), and we republish it for its ironic value (for the full list of pompous prognasticators, see the original post):
1. “We will not have any more crashes in our time.” -John Maynard Keynes in 1927.
2. “I cannot help but raise a dissenting voice to statements that we are living in a fool’s paradise, and that prosperity in this country must necessarily diminish and recede in the near future.” - E. H. H. Simmons, President, New York Stock Exchange, January 12, 1928
7. “Hysteria has now disappeared from Wall Street.” - The Times of London, November 2, 1929
9. “I see nothing in the present situation that is either menacing or warrants pessimism… I have every confidence that there will be a revival of activity in the spring, and that during this coming year the country will make steady progress.”
- Andrew W. Mellon, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury December 31, 1929
“[1930 will be] a splendid employment year.” - U.S. Dept. of Labor, New Year’s Forecast, December 1929
20. “All safe deposit boxes in banks or financial institutions have been sealed… and may only be opened in the presence of an agent of the I.R.S.” - President F.D. Roosevelt, 1933