Bear Mountain Bull

Marc Faber in the WSJ:

The world has gone from the greatest synchronized global economic boom in history to the first synchronized global bust since the Great Depression. How we got here is not a cautionary tale of free markets gone wild. Rather, it’s the story of what can happen when governments ignore market signals and central bankers believe in endless booms.

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Sadly, government policy responses — not only in the U.S. — are plainly wrong. It is not that the free market failed. The mistake was constant interventions in the free market by the Fed and the U.S. Treasury that addressed symptoms and postponed problems instead of solving them.

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So what now? Unfortunately, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were, as Fed officials, among the chief architects of easy money and are therefore largely responsible for the credit bubble that got us here. Worse, their commitment to meddling in markets has only intensified with the adoption of near-zero interest rates and massive bank bailouts.

The best policy response would be to do nothing and let the free market correct the excesses brought about by unforgivable policy errors. Further interventions through ill-conceived bailouts and bulging fiscal deficits are bound to prolong the agony and lead to another slump — possibly an inflationary depression with dire social consequences.

“The best policy response would be to do nothing and let the free market correct the excesses…” Sorry Marc, but it’s too late for that wish.

Pointer came from The Big Picture, where Barry comments:

Marc Faber wants to do nothing and let the free market correct the excesses. I agree — but I know its only a pipedream. Given we have already had unprecedented interventions, the let-the-market-correct ship has already sailed. And, no US politician has the stomach for that.