Bernanke to the rescue!

The Fed gets aggressive on unemployment. Twitter goes wild

Published September 13, 2012 7:00PM (EDT)

Ben Bernanke
Ben Bernanke

Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve came to the rescue of the stagnant U.S. economy on Thursday, thrilling advocates of forceful monetary policy to address unemployment, disappointing Republicans who prefer that nothing be done that could possibly stimulate the economy (even if the impact of the Fed move won't be felt before the election), goosing the stock market to a five-year high, and sending Twitter into a delirious conniption.

Here is how the reaction to "QE3" played out, in 140-character outbursts, with a couple of footnotes to provide added clarity.

[embedtweet id="246285842786701312"]
[embedtweet id="246285856657256448"]

*
[embedtweet id="246285884100583424"]
[embedtweet id="246286568535511041"]
[embedtweet id="246294214277742592"]
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[embedtweet id="246286732448919553"]
[embedtweet id="246287093867888642"]
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[embedtweet id="246287275221188608"]
[embedtweet id="246287194812203009"]
[embedtweet id="246287315574587393"]

**
[embedtweet id="246288420123578369"]
[embedtweet id="246288746998267904"]
[embedtweet id="246289076645400577"]
[embedtweet id="246289993025335296"]
[embedtweet id="246292056836820992"]
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[embedtweet id="246311710913343488"]
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[embedtweet id="246318605787090944"]

* In Fed-watching parlance, "doves" advocate "looser" policy to boost employment, while "hawks" advocate "tighter" policy to keep inflation down.

** This is exactly what Rick Perry warned against!


By Andrew Leonard

Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21.

MORE FROM Andrew Leonard


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Ben Bernanke Federal Reserve Quantitative Easing U.s. Economy