© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
'Dr. Doom' Has a Prediction About the Fed's Easy Money Policies – and It's Not Good
December 17, 2013
[Editor’s note: The following is a crosspost by Alex Rosenberg that originally appeared on CNBC.com]:
When the Federal Reserve announces its next move on Wednesday, some expect it to reduce its $85 billion monthly bond-buying program, targeting an eventual end to quantitative easing in late 2014. Others expect the Fed to begin to reduce the program in early 2014, or to finish it off by 2015.
But Marc Faber, known more commonly as "Dr. Doom," has a different take altogether .
"The Fed will never end QE for good," the editor and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report said Tuesday on CNBC's "Futures Now." "They will continue because these programs, once they're introduced, usually keep on going."
The Fed will announce its decision at 12:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will follow that up with a 2:30 p.m. news conference. Expectations for the meeting are mixed, but more than 50 percent of Wall Streeters expect the Fed to taper its QE program in either December or January, according to the CNBC Fed Survey. As economic data have improved, many investors are guessing that the Fed no longer considers QE to be as vital as before.
But Faber said the good times cannot last.
"The economic recovery, or so-called recovery, by June of next year, will be in the fifth year of the recovery," Faber said. "So at some stage the economy will weaken again, and at that point, the Fed will argue, 'Well, we haven't done enough, we have to do more.'"
The noted bear has little admiration for the economists at the Federal Reserve.
"The Federal Reserve—all of them—could be sitting on a barrel of dynamite, and then pouring gasoline on top of it, and then light a cigar with matches, throw the match into the gasoline, and then not notice that there is any danger," Faber said. "That is the state of mind of the professors at the Fed, who never worked a single [day] in business."
And while Faber actually believes that a reduction in QE could happen, he wouldn't view it as a true tapering, as he says it will be a largely meaningless, one-time move that will eventually be reversed as the economy worsens.
"They may do some cosmetic adjustments, but in my view, within a few years, the asset purchases will be substantially higher than they are today," Faber said.
--
RELATED:
- Fed taper expected sooner: CNBC survey
- Anxious bond investors start to look beyond the taper)
- US stocks close sharply higher a day ahead of Fed gathering
- Cubist Pharma on the front lines of superbug war
- Get a piece of this IPO, Cramer says
©2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved. Alex Rosenberg
Want to leave a tip?
We answer to you. Help keep our content free of advertisers and big tech censorship by leaving a tip today.
Want to join the conversation?
Already a subscriber?
more stories
Sign up for the Blaze newsletter
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content that may sometimes include advertisements. You may opt out at any time.
© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
Get the stories that matter most delivered directly to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content that may sometimes include advertisements. You may opt out at any time.