FED pickpockets savers

Let's face it - boomers are the group most likely to have savings.  They have paid off the house (or nearly so).  They have sent the kids through college.  Now they are at peak earning years and without a mortgage or saving for college they can finally think of their own future and needs for retirement.  Or, like me if they are an older boomer they are retired or will be soon.  They are unlikely to be the ones defaulting on mortgages and taking on debt.  But, they are being forced to pay for the problems caused by others after years of bahaving responsibly to get to this point in life. Call it covert TARP. I call it hidden taxes. How does it work?

Millions of Americans are paying a high price for a safe place to put their money: extremely low interest rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit. The elderly and others on fixed incomes have been especially hard hit. Many have seen returns on savings, C.D.’s and government bonds drop to niggling amounts recently, often costing them money once inflation, fees and taxes are considered.

“Open a Savings Plus Account today and get a great rate,” read an advertisement in the Dec. 16 Newsday for Citibank, which was then offering 1.2 percent for an account. (As low as it was, the offer was good only for accounts of $25,000 and up.)

This is laughable. Banks can easily invest the money in those savings accounts in Treasury bonds and see a profit without taking any risk – no lending required.  If you want to know why Treasury rates won’t rise, this as a major reason.

Clearly the Fed is more concerned with bailing out the banks who lent recklessly and depleted their capital than grandma living off her social security check.  But, of course, this policy is not going to induce any deleveraging. Ultimately, at the next sign of economic distress, the day of reckoning will come; and the problem will be even worse.

How do we change this?  We can't vote for Federal Reserve members.  We need to demand more oversight and changes to how our monetary system is being run.  Hopefully Ron Paul will have some power to do so in his new finance comittee chairman position.