Veteran investor calls Bernanke `a nut' over rate cuts

BLOOMBERG





US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is "a nut" and interest-rate cuts by the central bank are harming the US economy by fueling inflation, investor Jim Rogers said.

"Bernanke loves printing money," Rogers said in an interview in New York. "This man is a nut. The dollar is collapsing, commodities are going through the roof, which means inflation's going through the roof. These people are leading us to terrible problems down the line."

Rogers, the 65-year-old chairman of Beeland Interests Inc, also said he was selling short shares of Citigroup Inc, the biggest US bank, and Fannie Mae, the largest provider of money for US home loans.

Investors should buy commodities and the Chinese currency, Rogers said.

The Fed this week cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 4.5 percent. Policymakers have now lowered their target rate for overnight loans between banks by 0.75 percentage points in six weeks, the most aggressive easing since the economy was emerging from its last recession in 2001.