DATELINE February 13, 2013:
"The Big Dog"
By: Scoop Biggers
Most of us are used to the "Big Dog" getting what he wants. In this case the big dog is the United States Federal Reserve Bank, or as it is often called, "The Fed". My question these days is, "How much does the Big Dog want, and will there be any room left for the little dog under the house?"
The Federal Reserve Bank was created back in 1913 in response to several economic crisises which were at that time called "Panics". The big one of its day was the Panic of 1907. Today's sequel to the Panic of 1907 and the Great Depression of 1929, is "The Great Recession".
Many things are the same in today's crisis as were true in these two events of the past, but one aspect is very different. The Fed's actions over the last several years have controlled both inflation and deflation, but have also made it impossible for the average citizen to earn any money on his savings. At the same time the two big problems which are the results of this "panic" remain unchecked. One would be high unemployment with stagnant job growth, coupled with an anemic real estate market which helped start the recession to begin with. This makes it hard for that average "Joe" to do his part in helping stimulate the economy.
The present "Big Shot" at the offices of the "Big Dog" is Ben Shalom Bernanke author of the "Bernanke Doctrine" which details his view of how to run the country's finances. In his doctrine the Big Dog states that to combat deflation he would "#3 - lower interest rates - all the way down to 0". Well folks, he has done that for about three years now and we still ain't out of the woods.
Unemployment figures are stagnant at a rate of between 7.5% and 8.4%, when it is acknowledged that a healthy economy requires an unemployment rate of below 6%. The housing market continues to flounder, and we are running an inflation rate of 1.5%, up to about 2%. Meanwhile I was down at my local Credit Union to roll over a Certificate of Deposit, and the best they could offer up was .035% for a year, which means that a year from now my money will be worth at least 1% less than it is today.
Now my problem with this is that I know that a lot of big dogs are eating pretty good these days, while us little dogs are just getting the scraps and the bones. As long as the "Big Dog" has his way, there is no end in sight to our share getting smaller and smaller.
I have heard just about all I can stand about corporations which are "too big to fail", and about folks who can't pay their mortgage because they bit off more than they could chew! I don't work for GM, and I don't have a loan from Fanny Mae, but I do pay my bills, and my taxes, and I try to put a little aside for when I am old. The guy that just got beat running for President did have one thing right. The rich and the poor both have safety nets, but us folks in the middle, carrying the country on our backs, got nobody looking out for us despite all the campaign rhetoric about being for the middle class. Oh, and don't talk to me about entitlements, that money is mine, since I put in 50 years of hard labor paying into the Social Security Savings Account, which I was required to do by law, not by choice.
What about it "Uncle Ben, the Big Dog", you think you could toss a bone our way? How about fixing it where I at least don't go backwards with the little dab of money I am trying to put aside for when I am too old to carry GM around on my back all day long!
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"Just my opinion"
Scoop Biggers
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