Volcker on Bernanke and the current economy

Here's an interesting quote I found from former Fed Chair, Paul Volcker:

“I think Bernanke is in a very difficult situation,” Paul Volcker told me. Volcker was the Fed chief who preceded Greenspan and who conquered, painfully, the great inflation of the 1970s and early ’80s. (He was chairman from 1979 to 1987.) “Too many bubbles have been going on for too long,” Volcker added. “The Fed is not really in control of the situation."

Recession Ahead?!

The official US unemployment rate shot up 0.3 percentage points in December to a two-year high of 5 percent and job growth virtually ceased, according to the Labor Department’s monthly report, issued on Friday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists now predict a recession, joining their counterparts at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley.

From the WSJ on Goldman: Goldman Sees Recession This Year

“Over the past few months, we have become increasingly concerned that the U.S. housing and credit market downturn would trigger not just a growth slowdown and substantial Fed easing — our long-standing view — but also an outright recession. The latest data suggest that recession has now arrived, or will very shortly,” Goldman said in a research note. The bank also expects a decline in consumer spending, which didn’t happen during the 2001 recession, amid spillover from the housing market."

From Bloomberg on Merrill:

"The US has entered its first full-blown economic recession in 16 years, according to investment bank Merrill Lynch.

Merrill, itself one of Wall Street's biggest casualties of the sub-prime crisis, is the first major bank to declare that a recession in the world's biggest economy is now underway.

US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has admitted that the US economy faces severe challenges David Rosenberg, the bank's chief North American economist, argues that a weakening employment picture and declining retail sales signal the economy has tipped into its first month of recession.

Mr Rosenberg, who is well-respected on Wall Street, argues: "According to our analysis, this [recession] isn't even a forecast any more but is a present day reality."

Ok iPhone, I Give

Over the holidays, I went on a road trip with five on my friends. We rented a Chevy Suburban and charged off to Utah for a few days of snowboarding and fun. It's been somewhat of an annual tradition now for over a decade. The trip was a blast and I could write plenty on the good times had on the trip, but I will save that for another venue.

The reason I bring up the trip in this blog, is because the trip was a true testament to the value and usability of the iPhone, specifically in relation to the other smart phones on the market. For navigational purposes and general information lookup (mostly to resolve random arguments and keep everyone honest in their story telling), we had access to several devices: the car Nav system, a Samsung Blackjack, a Palm Treo, a Sony Ericsson P1i, and Sony Ericsson P990i, and an iPhone. Whenever a informational or navigational inquiry popped up during the trip (and there was plenty) everyone would reach for a device and start chopping away until the question was answered. So this became a great test for the ease of use and speed of the different devices. Without fail, the iPhone always was the winner. Everyone would reach for a device, but the iPhone would be the fist to bring up the answer and the place where everyone eventually was gathered around to see the results. The iPhone might not use the fastest network, and its not the only interface to the internet, but as far as general usability goes, it beats every other game in town.

I am in the market for a new cell phone and was unsure about what to buy, but now its obvious. I once was reluctant to jump on the bandwagon, but now I concede: iPhone, you win!