The BBC reports Ben Bernanke, Former US Federal Reserve Chief, Wins Nobel Prize.

Ben Bernanke, who led the US central bank during the 2008 financial crisis, is one of three recipients of this year's Nobel prize in economics. The Nobel Foundation chose to recognise work by Mr Bernanke about the importance of preventing runs on banks.

He shared the prize with economists Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig. 

The Nobel Foundation said their research had "improved our ability to avoid both serious crises and expensive bailouts".

Exclusive Bernanke Interview

In an exclusive MishTalk coup, Ben Bernanke agreed to an interview.

Mish: Why do you think you won the Nobel Prize? 

"To learn how to save the economy, we first had to wreck it. That's the real reason I won the prize", said Bernanke. 

"I expect to win another prize in 2025," added Bernanke. 

"I paved the way for the Powell Fed to learn from my mistakes. QE and bank bailouts created and even bigger housing bubble under Powell than I created." 

"Best of all income inequality is at record levels, and banks will remain profitable thanks to record amounts of free money we currently give banks."

Mish: Is free money the secret sauce?

"Of course," he replied. "That took a while to figure out, but once we had the right formula, we realized there would not be another banking crisis in my lifetime, atleast in the US"

Mish: How much free money it might it take to prevent another crisis?

Bernanke responded, "Why does it matter? We will do whatever it takes, legal or not," said Bernanke, adding that he only had time for one more question.

Mish: What about the bottom 80 percent?

Bernanke said "You really don't get it do you? We have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt the bottom 80 percent don't matter at all. Taking care of the top 1 percent trickles down to the next 9 percent. Then the next 10 percent is the middle class."

"No one else matters, and that's what my policies prove," said Bernanke as he rushed out the door to accept his well-deserved prize.

Free Money Via QE

The Fed forced money down banks' throats and it now pays interest on those reserves parked at the Fed.

Free Money Calculation

The Fed gives taxpayer money to banks at an annualized rate of 3.15%.

3.15% of $3.3 trillion is $103,950,000,000. The Fed is shrinking its balance sheet but with every rate hike bumps up the interest it pays on reserves. 

The Fed reports this data monthly, last updated in September for August.

The Strong Dollar is Getting on the Nerves of Foreign Central Banks

In a related post please note The Strong Dollar is Getting on the Nerves of Foreign Central Banks

I wanted to ask Bernanke about the dollar. Alas, my allotted time ran out.

Finally, In case you have not figured this out, this interview is a spoof.

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