Perry Thinks ‘Printing More Money’ Is ‘Almost Treason’ Because It Would Help The Economy

[cal04]

Rick Perry Thinks ‘Printing More Money’ Is ‘Almost Treason’ Because It Would Help The Economy And Thus Obama
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/rick-perry-thinks-printing-more-money-is-almost-treason-because-it-would-help-the-economy-and-thus-o.php?ref=fpa

Texas governor, and freshly minted GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry will have to explain what he meant when he said "we would treat (Fed chairman Ben Bernanke) pretty ugly down in Texas" if he prints money -- or, more charitably, printing more money than usual. Likewise, he'll have to explain why he thinks printing money -- or prints more money than usual -- would be "almost treasonous," at least as compared to, say, secession.

But what's gone completely unnoticed in the wake of candidate Perry's first big flap is his rationale for opposing a looser Fed policy in this depressed economy: specifically that it would work, boost the economy, and thus make it harder for the GOP to defeat President Obama.

(snip)
There are plenty of people on the right, even some very influential members of the Republican party, who've come out against more so-called quantitative easing, because they claim it would "debase the currency" -- i.e. lead to inflation. Inflation is not currently a risk at all, and in fact is lower than it was under Ronald Reagan whose support for tight money policies likely played a part in the current anti-inflation mania gripping the right. But that's not what Perry's saying.

Crucially, Rick Perry appears to be saying that a new round of quantitative easing "between now and the election" would improve the economy. That, he holds, would not be a good thing, but a crime. Because it would tilt the political balance in a way that harms Rick Perry's chances of defeating the incumbent President.

[Puzzler]

1. Rick Perry knows a lot about treason, since he advocated secession

[CarmanK]

2. Let the TX our of TX and he is lost!!

the man as Jon Stewart said: W on steroids. He thinks he knows it all and he has all those rich guys covering his backside,so of course he can make daring remarks of no consequence. And of course, if anyone should know about treason, it is RICK PERRY!! He supported sedition,that is treason, in order to settle some of TX financial woes and to express his distaste for federalism.

[MrDiaz]

3. Good hair is an idiot

but you can not simply print money with no consequence, if we could why not print money instead of borrowing it from china?

[banned from Kos]

5. As noted - the consequences are positive

avoiding deflation is worth any amount of QE.

M1 is completely under control.

[MrDiaz]

6. If

what you are saying is true, then howcome we borrow money from countries like china, instead of just printing our own money? Then we would never have a debt problem, right?

[robinlynne]

11. China has only 8% of the debt. our debt is right here at home.

[Scurrilous]

4. K & R

:thumbsup:

[MadHound]

7. Umm, not in support of Governor Goodhair or anything, but printing more money wouldn't be good

It would drive up inflation across the board. In fact that is what has happened with the first two rounds of quantitative easing. Yes, it would make repaying our debts easier, but it would weaken the dollar abroad while diminishing our purchasing power at home.

Another round of quantitative easing, or in layman's terms, letting the presses roll, would not be a good thing for most people. Our annualized rate of inflation for the first half of this year is over five percent, and printing more money means that number would go higher.

[MrDiaz]

9. THANK YOU

you are the only one in any of these threads that have been on my side

[BzaDem]

13. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Everything in your post is wrong. Core inflation is around 2%, not 5%. The Fed has printed 2 trillion dollars, and inflation is still at record lows. (Energy price spikes due to supply shocks like Libya are not inflation, as most respected economist would tell you). The Fed still has retained all of its bonds that it bought during QE1 and QE2, yet commodity prices have fallen.

As both common sense and observation shows, printing money does NOT necessarily cause inflation. The only way printing money causes inflation is if demand for money is constant or decreasing while supply rises. The exact opposite is happening right now. When DEMAND for currency rises, the SUPPLY for currency needs to rise with it, to prevent DEFLATION and depression. Right now, demand for currency is skyrocketing, yet according to you, we should hold supply constant. That would represent a tightening of the money supply not seen since the low point of the great depression. Anyone who does not want to expand the money supply right now (to accommodate increased demand for currency/savings) is calling for the exact same monetary policy that caused the great depression and forced it to last for a decade.

The REASON right-wingers like Perry want to stop printing money (when it is desperately needed, like right now) is because right wingers care about exactly one thing. It is not massive unemployment. It is not a growing economy. It is, quite simply, ensuring that the super rich in this country can earn a fat rate of return on their hoarded piles of cash. That is it. The right wingers believe all goods should be priced according to supply and demand, except savings. They want a guaranteed return on their piles of cash, even when there is a gigantic savings glut that in any other market would drive the return down. Keeping the money supply constant in the face of a glut of savings is handing out huge welfare checks to the richest people in this country, so they can continue to make money of their risk free piles of cash while the economy burns.

Quite simply, as Nobel prize winning progressive economists Peter Diamond and Paul Krugman have called for, we need further monetary easing right now.

[lynne]

14. Cannot believe this article states that it would HELP the economy -

- when it would make the economy WORSE. That's why a big deal is always made when money is printed. You are right about it driving up inflation and weakening the already shaky dollar.

Riddle me this, Batman: If printing money would help the economy then WHY haven't we been doing it all along???? We should have had those presses cranking months - YEARS - ago. Why would we wait with such a simple fix at hand??

I am STUNNED at this misinformation and those who would so willingly believe it. For crying out loud, people, you've got the internet - research things before you swallow them whole!

:banghead:

[BzaDem]

17. As most progressive economists would tell you, it would help the economy.

I, like you, am stunned at the level of misinformation. Unfortunately, the misinformation is coming from posters on a message board who have never taken a macroeconomics course, who say we need to hold the money supply constant EVEN THOUGH demand for currency is dramatically increasing.

You should take your own advice about Internet research. Start by reading Nobel Prize winning progressive economists Paul Krugman and Peter Diamond, who support hundreds of billions (if not trillions) of money supply expansion.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. Well, considering his stance on seceding, I think he should know more about treason than I.

:shrug:

[robinlynne]

10. can someone explain how printing money helps the economy? and what

quantitative easing means?

[Mimosa]

12. Greenspan the geriatric money Guru said we should consider printing more moolah

I don't know why anybody would listen to Alan Greenspan since he helped get us in this situation but...

http://www.businessinsider.com/alan-greenspan-sp-downgrade-hit-the-self-esteem-of-the-us-2011-8

[upi402]

15. Yes, he's a batshit crazy Republican. Just like Bush.

The effectiveness of propaganda shouldn't be dismissed, especially when you add it to cheating at the polls.

[gkhouston]

16. Says the man who got a D in Principles of Economics.

So, do you think he was having trouble with "economics" or with "principles"? :shrug:

[demwing]

18. Perry advocated secession, but still took 16 BILLION in Federal stimulus funds

Hey Rick? I don't know how you treat treasonous secessionist thieves in Texas, but we had a war in this country a while back and kicked your secessionist asses once...try it again and we'll treat you pretty ugly down in Texas.