Bernanke’s “Success” Summed Up In One Chart

Since his appointment, the balance sheet of Ben Bernanke's Fed has exploded, stock prices have resurged to newerer highs, and home prices are breaking (bad) records once again. However, the following chart of sentiment towards the money-printer-in-chief by income bracket sums it all up… (despite Bernanke's "belief" that "Fed policy is a Main Street policy") Greenspan will be happy though, as Bernanke's disapproval rating is almost double that of his when he left office in 2006 (and approval rating considerably lower).

 

The American public is divided on how Bernanke has handled his job, with 40% approving and 35% disapproving.

 

One in four have no opinion. By contrast, Bernanke's predecessor, the better-known Alan Greenspan, left office with a strong majority approving of his performance.

As Gallup adds,
Bernanke's consequential legacy may take decades to fully assess, but he has already won many plaudits from an array of economists, policymakers, and financial analysts.

The American public is divided on Bernanke's job performance. Many of the commentaries applauding Bernanke's actions focus on what might have happened had the Fed chairman not intervened, but most Americans are more likely to judge Bernanke, like other public officials, on the results of his policy decisions, rather than what might have been. While even a man as powerful as Bernanke cannot control all of the interrelated forces that drive the economy, Americans' views on his job as top central banker have been shaped by the speed and breadth of the recovery. And for many, the economic recovery remains underwhelming.
 

Ignore that though – as he explained here…

The Fed is here for Main Street…

 

(h/t @Not_Jim_Cramer)


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1nsb1FT Tyler Durden

Bernanke's "Success" Summed Up In One Chart

Since his appointment, the balance sheet of Ben Bernanke's Fed has exploded, stock prices have resurged to newerer highs, and home prices are breaking (bad) records once again. However, the following chart of sentiment towards the money-printer-in-chief by income bracket sums it all up… (despite Bernanke's "belief" that "Fed policy is a Main Street policy") Greenspan will be happy though, as Bernanke's disapproval rating is almost double that of his when he left office in 2006 (and approval rating considerably lower).

 

The American public is divided on how Bernanke has handled his job, with 40% approving and 35% disapproving.

 

One in four have no opinion. By contrast, Bernanke's predecessor, the better-known Alan Greenspan, left office with a strong majority approving of his performance.

As Gallup adds,
Bernanke's consequential legacy may take decades to fully assess, but he has already won many plaudits from an array of economists, policymakers, and financial analysts.

The American public is divided on Bernanke's job performance. Many of the commentaries applauding Bernanke's actions focus on what might have happened had the Fed chairman not intervened, but most Americans are more likely to judge Bernanke, like other public officials, on the results of his policy decisions, rather than what might have been. While even a man as powerful as Bernanke cannot control all of the interrelated forces that drive the economy, Americans' views on his job as top central banker have been shaped by the speed and breadth of the recovery. And for many, the economic recovery remains underwhelming.
 

Ignore that though – as he explained here…

The Fed is here for Main Street…

 

(h/t @Not_Jim_Cramer)


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1nsb1FT Tyler Durden

Paul H. McCullough, 81, of Fayetteville

Paul H. McCullough, 81, of Fayetteville, died Saturday afternoon after a long illness.

He and his family moved from Indiana to Georgia in 1966 and moved to Fayette County in 1986. He and his wife built the “pretty yellow house” which was known as a “landmark” on New Hope Road.

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Richard Gorman, 95, of Peachtree City

Richard “Pappy” Gorman, 95, of Peachtree City, Ga. passed away on January 23, 2014.

Richard was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. in 1918. After graduating from Central Catholic High School, he enlisted in the US Army and served in the Pacific during World War II, where he earned two Bronze Stars.

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William Robert Bunn, age 45 of Fayetteville

April 22, 1968 – January 24, 2014

Mr. William Robert “Robbie” Bunn, age 45 of Fayetteville, passed away on Friday, January 24, 2014 at Atlanta Medical Center.

Mr. Bunn was born in Griffin, Ga. on April 22, 1968. He was a member of the No Bull Hunting Club and in his spare time he enjoyed riding motorcycles.

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Joyce Lee Woodall, 60, of Fayetteville

Joyce Lee Woodall, 60, of Fayetteville, passed away January 21, 2014.

She started a pet rescue, “Love-A-Pet” in 2008 and worked tirelessly to rescue dogs and she had a booth every year at the Renaissance Festival. She was a staff member with Camp Firefly, a camp for sick children, for 25 years. She always chose to see the good in people. She was Aunt Joyce to everyone she met and all who loved her and all she loved.

She was preceded in death by her husband Wesley C. Woodall; daughter Melanie Woodall; and mother & father Juanita & Archie L. Turner; and brother Wayne Turner.

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Virginia L. Tramonte, 82, of Peachtree City

Virginia L. Tramonte, 82, of Peachtree City, passed away January 25, 2014.

Virginia was born in Tylertown, Miss., the oldest child of Florence and Percy Reid. She moved to Kenner, La. in 1950 and married Anthony R. Tramonte, Sr. In 1993, they moved to Ocean Springs, Miss. In 2010 she moved to Peachtree City, Ga. and for the past couple of years has been a resident of Kindred Transitional Care Lafayette in Fayetteville. She was a member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church with many friends at St. Gabriel Catholic Church.

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Mary Elinore Crea King, 85, of Fayetteville

Mary Elinore Crea King, 85, of Fayetteville, passed away January 27, 2014.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, College Park. Reverend Spenser Simrill will officiate. The family will receive friends at the church following the service.

Carl J. Mowell & Son Funeral Home, Fayetteville– http://ift.tt/1mprp6K.

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State Department Bans Coursera From Educating Underprivileged Foreigners

Coursera, which provides massive open online
courses (MOOC), has the noble mission of “connecting people
to a great education so that anyone around the world can learn
without limits.” Unfortunately, the State Department and the
Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)
disagree. They recently decided that the company cannot extend such
opportunities to a few academically underprivileged countries.

The organization posted a
notice to its website on Tuesday explaining that the U.S.
government now requires it to block IP addresses in certain
sanctioned countries.

Who will miss out on hundreds of free classes, offered in 12
languages, and covering a broad range of fields, including
economics, the humanities, and medicine? Cuba, which ranks outside
the top 50 education systems in the world, Iran, which is less well
off than 40 percent of the world, and Sudan, which is worse than 90
percent.

These three aren’t the only ones who will be impacted, though.
The announcement notes that, “In rare instances, students with IP
addresses bordering on but not geopolitically within the bounds of
these countries will be affected.”

What’s behind this academic censorship? Federal regulations.
“United States export control regulations prohibit U.S. businesses,
such as MOOC providers like Coursera, from offering services to
users in sanctioned countries,” Coursera explains. The website
itself is still be viewable, because it falls under “public
information,” whereas the departments consider the educational
materials to be “services.”

Coursera has operated since April 2012, and although the company
has been talking with the State Department and OFAC “for quite some
time… only very recently were we advised… that the course
experience was determined to be a service offering and we have
since been working closely with [federal officials] to ensure that
Coursera remains in compliance with U.S. law,” co-founder Daphne
Koller
told
the Wall Street Journal.

Yet, whether services are allowed in sanctioned countries is not
always clear-cut. The OFAC initially included Syria on the list of
prohibited nations, but later clarified that educational services
are permissible there. Other exceptions have been made for other
organizations. According to
Inside Higher Ed
, “edX, the MOOC provider founded in
partnership between Harvard University and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology… has since last May worked with the U.S.
State Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control, and has so far applied for and received
company-specific licenses for its MOOCs to enroll
students in Cuba and Iran.”

Although it may stop some, the government-ordered IP address
block cannot prevent all Cubans, Iranians, and Sudanese from
educating themselves, thanks to easily accessible proxy servers
that disguise one’s location.

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