Bernanke printed money and bought T-Bills with it, to hide the real deficits Obama has run up. And it definitely pushed oil prices higher. The Arabs don't like trading their oil for devalued dollars so they demand a higher price. http://www.gfmag.com/archives/142-o...rt-cards-2011-the-americas.html#axzz1p9835iSk Ben Bernanke Grade: C Ben Bernanke deserves credit for conducting the first formal press conference by a Federal Reserve chairman. He proved himself to be a great communicator. There is little else in his conduct of monetary policy that is commendable, however. The central bank’s controversial policies have left the economy sputtering and the Fed’s balance sheet bloated. “The combination of high unemployment, high gas prices and high foreclosure rates is a terrible combination,” Bernanke said in his first press conference. “A lot of people are having a very tough time. So I can certainly understand why people are impatient.” The Fed completed its $600 billion in treasury bond purchases on June 30, just as the economy’s soft patch was beginning to become a real worry. Meanwhile, the Fed’s easy-money policies were criticized around the world for contributing to rising commodity prices that threatened to result in broader inflation. Quantitative easing did drive the dollar down, but it also contributed to high oil prices and a rising US import bill. Meanwhile, banks can borrow at 0.25% and buy treasury bonds that yield 2.5%, pocketing the difference. This subsidy helps them to generate earnings and restore capital, but it doesn’t help small businesses that cannot get a loan.
