Bernanke's Whoppers

Oh, he tells me tears are something to hide
And something to fear
And I try so hard to keep in inside
So no one can hear
--Til Tuesday

Last week found Ben Bernanke sitting before Congress for his semi-annual "Humphrey Hawkins" exchange. Bernanke made some epic statements. A sample:

Congress: Are you printing money?

Bernanke: Not literally

and...

Bernanke: The amount of US student loan debt is large, but not particularly likely to cause macroeconomic instability.

(Bernanke in 2007: The sub-prime mess is grave but largely contained.)

and to a question has to whether most Fed policy gains have gone to owners of financial assets...

Bernanke: Wall Street hasn't benefited more than Main Street.

Guess no one had charts like this one handy:

See this and this if you're confused about the link between corporate profits and Fed policy.