{"id":248,"date":"2010-06-14T16:28:30","date_gmt":"2010-06-14T22:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markniwot.com\/?p=248"},"modified":"2012-11-20T23:08:48","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T06:08:48","slug":"two-plagues-bp-vs-the-fed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/?p=248","title":{"rendered":"Two plagues: BP vs the Fed"},"content":{"rendered":"

This last week I was struck by the stunning similarities which exist between what, I will shortly argue, may well be the first two “plagues” visited upon a post-Constitutional, post-Biblical Babylon<\/span> –er, Amerika<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I saw a transcript of some of the whoppers that Fed Chairman ‘Helicopter Ben’ Bernake was spouting before Congress, and then a set of comments by BP Chairman Tony Hayward.\u00a0 The latter was somehow linked to an article describing how Obama has said that “if he worked for me” the man would have been fired (to put it charitably).\u00a0 The fact that the Decider in Chief picked on Hayward for his lies, but hasn’t expressed similar sentiment over those told by the Fed (and the related assortment of liars, charlatans, and Goldman-Sachs execs — or do I repeat myself ?) is telling.\u00a0 The irony that most of the Amerikan public may well think the same thing about the whole mess of ’em is obviously beyond their ken as well.<\/p>\n

The “Bumbler from BP”, as the press refers to Hayward in some cases, has been criticized for denying the severity of the oil ‘volcano’ spewing\u00a0 into the Gulf of Mexico, minimizing some of the important statistics, and worrying more about the price of his stock than the collateral damage.<\/p>\n

Funny:\u00a0 it occurs to me that ‘Bumbler Bernake’ can justifiably be accused of exactly <\/strong>the same thing!<\/em> In his case, of course, the “stock price” is the value of the “almighty” dollar, and the interest rate on its bonds.<\/p>\n

Both are salesmen, and both are obviously willing to distort <\/em>the truth in order to sell the same story:\u00a0 Not to worry, we have EVERYTHING under control.\u00a0 The worst is behind us.\u00a0 Trust us.<\/p>\n

Whether it’s “green shoots” or “blue water”, the jargon may be different, but the attitude and actions are virtually the same.<\/p>\n

Eventually, I concluded that the comparisons were so dramatic that some type of a chart was required…even if I intended to initially discuss the concept on the radio.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with a couple of the things that so clearly apply to both disasters…the economic meltdown, and the oil eruption:<\/p>\n