Image Source:The Inquistr
 

BY GEORGE DUMONTIER

Governor Rick Perry has only been in the Presidential race for a few days, but the Texan is coming out of the gates Guns-a-Blazin. Here’s what he had to say yesterday about Fed Chair Ben Bernanke’s policy of Quantitative Easing.

“Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American History is almost treacherous - treasonous in my opinion... (FLASH) If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas."


So what exactly is this “treasonous” policy? The Guardian explains...

“Quantitative easing involves a central bank creating new electronic money, which is used to buy up corporate and government debt in an effort to lower borrowing costs and keep banks lending.”


The government has already tried Quantitative Easing twice before. Is the third time the charm? Perry isn’t the only one who thinks not. Economist Glenn Hubbard tells Bloomberg...

“I would advise the Fed not to do it. The fed has to be vigilant about liquidity and the potential financial crisis, but I think QE3 would be a big mistake.”

Others consider QE3 inevitable if the economy slips any further, but Governor Perry’s views aren’t creating the controversy. His choice of words are. Former Deputy Assistant to George W. Bush, Tony Fratto tweeted.
 

“Gov. Perry's comments about Chmn. Bernanke are inappropriate and unpresidential.”
 

 A blogger for The Wall Street Journal isn’t quite sure why Perry went after the Fed -- but suggests, he might be getting on the bandwagon with his fellow presidential hopefuls.
 

“...other GOP presidential candidates and potential candidates have taken to attacking the Fed, particularly since it embarked in its second round of bond-buying, or quantitative easing, last November. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has even built a movement around a political platform that includes shutting down the U.S. central bank. But Perry had been seen as a more mainstream candidate drawing wider support.”

Bernanke is expected to discuss QE3 at a conference in Jackson Hole on the 26th, the same venue used to hint at QE2 last year.