Reparations in the 21st century

How would reparations work?

First, it's imperative that it has to be about more than slavery, which is the mistake most white and black middle class Christians make when supporting that idea. If it were just slavery, that would leave out Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Megan Markle, the adoptive children of movie stars and the millions like Ilhan Omar who have immigrated from Africa and the Caribbean in the past 3-4 decades. And I do mean millions. Only 350,000 blacks came during slavery days--you can see more need to be added to the roster of the downtrodden and abused.

Second, it will start with something recent that most people will remember. Maybe it will even be "affirmative action" since it failed to set things right and caused blacks undo hardship with debts they couldn't pay off. Maybe it will be "fair housing" initiatives since the concept caused so much "white flight" and pulled middle class blacks out of neighborhoods that needed them.

Third, it will include obviously bad and racist people, and we'll be asked to provide compensation for those hurt by those who consciously worked against blacks, like maybe a (Democrat) senator, former member of the KKK.

Fourth, it will include legal (at the time) business practices, either defined or redefined. Like red-lining of banks to stall mortgages. And if you've invested in that bank, or its parent company, or even if you use its savings and checking account services, you'll be part of the system, and therefore, guilty. You'll need to pay up.

Fifth, it will include local government services, like schools, parks, transportation. Did the schools in your community fail black children at higher rates than whites? Law suits coming right up. Maybe even the families of the board members and teachers will be held responsible. There goes that nice pension teachers get.

Sixth, it will include nutrition and health. We will be asked to overlook lifestyle causes of health problems, at least as far as reparations are concerned. If McDonald's is deemed to have too many stores in black neighborhoods (black because of redlining by banks) and black children have more obesity related health problems, then Mickey D will have to pay up, and if you've invested, sorry. That McDonald's has provided more top level management jobs for blacks since the early 1980s and been more environmentally responsible than most corporations will not balance the ledger.

And there will be more. There are currently national, state and local task forces for each of these. Keep your eyes and ears open. Non-profits are extremely lucrative for those at the top getting donations from foundations and gullible church mission boards. It's sort of a reparation payment all by itself.

What happened on the way to economic recovery? Was it Obama?

https://www.bostonfed.org/news-and-events/speeches/2016/after-the-great-recession-a-not-so-great-recovery.aspx   This is the link to the summary, and you can open the text with a click.

Shortly before the 2016 election there was the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's 60th Economic Conference, with president Eric Rosengren exploring what went wrong in the recovery from the recession.  Technically it was over by June 2009, and Obama’s goosing the economy with payouts to special interests and bail outs hadn’t even gotten out the door.

Without ever getting to the heart of it (I personally think it was Obama’s personality and negativity that caused workers and investors to hold back with a wait and see attitude) Rosengren lists

changing demographics

falling labor participation

higher savings rate (imagine complaining that people were holding on to their own money and not buying stuff they didn’t need)

low inflation

even when full employment returned, the economy was sluggish

low federal funds rate

treasury rates low

price to earning ratio for stocks were low

rents were low

rapid appreciation in commercial real estate

capitalization rates were at historic lows

Conclusion:  Recovery was mostly bad news and it may be the new “normal.”

Hmmm.  Maybe not Mr. Rosengren.

The “fat cats” will love Obama’s choice

The wealthiest should love Obama's choice of Janet Yellen to head the fed. She will continue the easy money policy. And predictably, Obama will continue to demonize the "fat cats" because it plays well among his supporters. http://www.mrt.com/business/article_60e80d86-57b4-11e3-8100-0019bb2963f4.html

To the extent they pay any attention to the Fed, most Americans think the Federal Reserve system is part of our government.  It isn't.  Although the president appoints the Chair and members of the board, it is a private institution owned by private member banks (a non-profit!). Yes, indeed, it  controls our lives, but it's not part of our three branches of government, it is not part of the civil service system, you'll never see a budget or an audit (although it has been called for) and no one in government monitors it. Confusing?  Yes.

Is the Federal Reserve Banking system part of the federal government?

I would say no, but a school teacher I was chatting with at the coffee shop said, "Of course it's part of the government." If it is, that is never said on any of the web sites of the twelve banks that comprise "the system." Now granted, the Board of Governors of the Fed is a federal government agency, but that's a board, not the Fed itself. The members of the Board are appointed by the President and approved by Congress for 14 year terms.

But the Fed itself is a central bank, private shareholder owned, and no matter where you look for answers you'll find either right wing, anti-semites who will swear it's a plot by Jews to own the world, or extremely non-commital bank owned sites and publications which are pretty mum about who and what they are.

I know this. There's a lot out there about what the Fed does, but not about who is in charge or who owns it.

Today, the Federal Reserve’s duties fall into four general areas:

conducting the nation’s monetary policy by influencing the monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates

supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation’s banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers

maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets

providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation’s payments system.

It doesn't report to you and me, the taxpayers. The URL is not dot gov. And Ben Bernanke, not Barack Obama, is the most powerful man in the world.