QE: The Greatest Subsidy To The Rich Ever? - CNBC

[WillyT]

QE: The greatest subsidy to the rich ever?
By: Robert Frank | CNBC Reporter and Editor - CNBC
12/18/13

<snip>

Every Ferrari dealership in the country should have a framed picture of Ben Bernanke in their lobby. It should read: "Our #1 Salesman."

The largesse of the Federal Reserve over the past five years has amounted to one of the largest ever subsidies to the American wealthy—fueling record fortunes, record numbers of new millionaires and billionaires, and an unprecedented shopping spree for everything from Ferraris to Francis Bacon paintings. The prices of the assets owned by the wealthy, and the things they buy, have gone parabolic, bearing little relationship to the weak, broader economy.

Yes, the Fed has helped the overall economy as well, especially through gains in home prices. But on this deciding day for the Fed's quantitative easing program, it's strikingly clear that most of the gains from the program have flowed to the top 1 percent.

More millionaires have been created over the past five years than during the entire eight years of the Bush administration. According to Spectrem Group, there were 2.3 million new millionaires created between 2008 and 2012. This year, the number will likely grow by at least 200,000, which would bring the millionaire population past its previous record in 2007.

During the Bush administration...

<snip>

More: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101283037

[Laelth]

1. k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t

-Laelth

[uponit7771]

2. What's REALLY dangerous is their ... unwillingness ... to understand that the middle class

... is the key to stop the CURRENT hyper DEFLATION we're having in core CPI (meaning remove QE and the stimulus and we're in Great Depression land even right now) prices.

QEs help the banks but the banks aren't lending, they're getting a .25% on their money right now and could care less about the rest of us.

If the banks aren't going to lend at a rate that pumps sufficient cash into circulation then take it and give it to the middle class via high speed rail.

Call the rail job national security...

I'm sure a conservative would do such without blinking once

[bvar22]

3. All Hail our RICH Overlords,

....and their facilitators in Washington!

Meanwhile, Life is NOT so good for Americans who have to Work for a Living:

Study: "Trade" Deal Would Mean a Pay Cut for 90% of U.S. Workers
http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/09/the-verdict-is-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-a-sweeping-free-trade-deal-under-negotiation-with-11-pacific-rim-coun.html

Obama selects former Monsanto lobbyist to be his TPP chief agriculture negotiator
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023662210

Billionaire wealth doubles since financial crisis
http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/11/12/Billionaire-wealth-doubles-since-financial-crisis/5011384268135/?spt=hts&or=12

Wealthy win lion's share of major tax breaks
http://www.boston.com/business/news/2013/05/29/wealthy-win-lion-share-major-tax-breaks/Ua0UyYle21EUXub7g1suCI/story.html

The Top .01 Percent Reach New Heights
http://www.demos.org/blog/9/13/13/top-01-percent-reach-new-heights

Rates of unemployment for families earning less than $20,000 - have topped 21 percent
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_JOBS_GAP_RICH_AND_POOR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-09-16-08-11-23

The Totally Unfair And Bitterly Uneven 'Recovery,' In 12 Charts – HuffPo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023662029

Larry Summers Gets 'Full-Throated Defense' From Obama In Capitol Hill Meeting
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014553343#post1

Wall Street will get away with massive wave of criminality of 2008 - Statute of Limitations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022516719

Income gap widest ever: 95 Percent of Recovery Income Gains Have Gone to the Top 1 Percent
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/09/10/one_percent_recovery_95_percent_of_gains_have_gone_to_the_top_one_percent.html

Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/03/1270541/corporate-profits-wages-record/?mobile=nc

THIS ^ does NOT happen by accident.
It is the result of carefully planned and implemented Economic Policy.
It requires careful preparation, marketing, buying the right politicians, message control, courts packed with Conservative Corporate Rights Judges, and the marginalization and suppression of any opposition.

[ErikJ]

4. QE has caused HUGE cash hoards soaring 300% since 2007.

"....................All of that wealth and income piling up at the top has created huge cash hoards by companies and the rich. The savings rate of the wealthiest 1 percent soared to 37 percent this year—and more than three times their savings rate in 2007, according to a study from Harrison Group and American Express Publishing."

[Octafish]

5. Trickle Down is Buy-Partisan.

The acolytes of Cass Sunstein don't like honest public discussion of the people on Team Obama, including Larry Summers and Jacob Lew and Penny Pritzker.

Then, there was Tim Geithner and his fun, foaming the runway for the banks.

[WillyT]

6. Yep...