mainehiker...
No, if you have read any of my previous posts on the subject where I took an objective appraisal of the practice, I have always said that they feel they have no other choice but to try to make things look better than they really are. I personally hate the practice with a passion, but to some extent agree that trying to influence consumer confidence and thus help the economy could be considered part of their duty. That has been a time honored part of government practice for ages around the globe.
Consider what would happen if the President, Secretary of the Treasury, and Fed Chairman all came out and said that the economy is headed into a recession and there was little that they could do about it. Furthermore, the recession would probably be a global one that would last more than a short while and be hard to climb out of and finally, it could turn out to be a very deep recession.
When they were finally able to get the markets reopened, they would be at half the previous levels and drop from there. Companies trying to hang on to workers would go ahead and let them go, IT and other capital spending would drop to zero, and we might end up with a depression rather than a recession.
In other words, they might be doing the right thing.
I feel the same way about the Fed/PPT supporting the market - for times when a meltdown appears likely, I agree that they should probably intervene to stop it, even though it might go against my positions at the moment and make me angry. At other times, like what they have been doing lately, I think they are wrong, but I can even see an argument for that - even though I think Greenspan will be unsuccessful at what he is trying to do, I believe he thinks he is doing the right thing in trying.
mlsoft
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