6 economists on why Ron Paul’s Fed audit idea is wrong

[gb13]

Let me ask this:

Isn't there a chance that this bill, if passed, could backfire, and allow congress to spend even more recklessly than they are permitted to now? If we had a hard currency this wouldn't be an issue, but that would require an abolition of the Fed and the FRN. That's not what this bill would do, so what is the quantifiable risk of the thing backfiring?

All I'm saying is that a fiat currency is a fiat currency is a fiat currency... if congress has a greater deal of control in the printing process, the situation could still (and probably would) be just as bad.

Seems to me is that the only hopes for this working are if:

a) we had enough responsible members of congress that would become enraged with the Fed's monetary policy, reign in spending, and work toward the gradual shift from the FRN to a commodity-backed currency.

or

b) the American people become so enraged at the undeniably disastrous conditions the Fed has created, that they demand the Fed be dissolved... then enough members of congress get their bearings, and phase out the FRN and replace it with a stable currency.

 

[buffalokid777]

James Hamilton, UC-San Diego

My own concern is not about a specific step such as a proposed audit but rather is a response to what I see as a changing political climate in which I fear it will be more difficult for the Fed to withstand pressure to monetize the deficit.

It appears this idiot comes from the Zimbabwe school of monetary policy.

 

[Malakai0]

Each of their answers is just gobbledygook. One of them even has the audacity to say somehow an audit would "prevent the fed from withstanding the pressure to monetize the debt".

Dude what the f*** are you smoking? THE FED EXISTS TO MONETIZE THE DEBT. Its what its there for. You think openness is somehow going to force them to print more money, basically?

The sad thing is these jerkoffs are the heads of US Economic Thought. Its so sad and scary, and it also explains exactly why the US economy is in the state its in. My god these people are such tools. They live in another galaxy from the rest of us.

 

[cbc58]

really what they are all saying is that the system is so far gone that casting any doubt on the fed could hurt americas ability to finance it's debt... causing more pain to the american people.

so what do we want: truth or consequences ?

 

[dantheman]

Just goes to show how much Keynesians are opposed to relinquishing power. The FED was the cause of the debt and now they're too big to fail (much like all the businesses they bailed out) and they need total secrecy in order to do their dirty work. And the fact that leading professors and thinkers within the US are backing this concept fully is alarming and yet not surprising.

 

[georgiaboy]

really what they are all saying is that the system is so far gone that casting any doubt on the fed could hurt americas ability to finance it's debt... causing more pain to the american people.

so what do we want: truth or consequences ?

that's pretty much what I gathered, too.

 

[CitizenPlain]

It is just a silly idea..

...

 

[SooperDave]

Let me ask this:

Isn't there a chance that this bill, if passed, could backfire

unfortunately, I think "they" are allowing Ron Paul and his bill to build some momentum. why? so they can comfort us and abolish the Fed but then implement an international central bank like the IMF or the World Bank with a new electronic currency. it will coincide with the collapse/hyperinflation of the dollar. its all slight of hand.

our only hope at this point (in my opinion) is that a few states will follow through and secede from the union and we can flock to those places for true freedom and liberty. I don't believe that the political process is going to work.

 

[angelatc]

A 1989 graduate of Northwestern University where he double majored in Soviet politics

There's the answer.

 

[Feenix566]

If you guys would actually READ THE RESPONSES, you would see that these economists' primary concern is that Congress (in its infinite wisdom) would put pressure on the Fed to print more money. I think we can all agree that this is a very real possibility! Can you imagine if the Fed were controlled by Nancy Pelosi and Chris Dodd? They would just print, print, print.

These economists are on our side! They share our goal of ending inflation. They just disagree with us about the best way to do that. We shouldn't be demonizing these people! We should be collaborating with them to come up with a better solution.

The best way to prevent monetary inflation would be to have competing currencies issued by private banks in a free banking system. In lieu of that, we have a single currency. We've been advocating a gold standard because that would force the money printers to abstain from printing money until they can back it up with gold. That's the second best solution.

What we have now is the third best solution, which is to have a group of supposedly benevolent central bankers controlling the production of a single fiat currency. The lynchpin of the federal reserve system is the belief that these central bankers are independent of political influence and therefor will not print too much money. Obviously, that doesn't work. The dollar has lost 95% of its purchasing power since the Fed was established in 1913.

The question is: does HR1207 move us in the right or the wrong direction? Now, I totally support HR1207. I've written to all of my congressional representatives urging them to pass it. I think the American people have a right to know which banks are getting new money. But I can see where these economists are coming from. We don't want the Pelosis of the world exerting any more influence on the central bank than they already have, because then we'll have a real economic catastrophe.

A better solution would be just to legalize competing currencies. Let employers and employees conduct their business in whatever form of trade they want. If people want to get paid in gold or silver, we should have a right to get paid in gold or silver. If people want to get paid in demand deposits from Wells Fargo, they have a right to do that. If people want to get paid in fireworks, they have a right to do that, too!

We should be pushing for monetary freedom. I think that's a goal that these six economists could agree is in the best interest of our economy and our country.

 

[HOLLYWOOD]

Right now the FED isn't exposed clearly with their schemes and reporting, their Quantitative Easing, ambiguous reporting, and covert silent actions.

Under Congress it would be completely exposed and the Dollar would truly TANK and in reflection of any abuse and where the blame lies, Then the Pitchforks and torches would come out on Washington DC.

The FIAT MONETARY system needs a complete overhaul... and I don't care what Barney Frank states... he is completely WRONG to keep propping the failed money system up.

 

[andrewh817]

What we need is either a Fed chairman who isn't concerned about reappointment, or a president who actually agrees with our point of a view (then if the chairman wanted to be reappointed he could just do what the president would want).

Good luck finding either of those in a monetary system.......

 

[Reason]

Does anyone have the names of any economists who support the bill?

WTB answer to this question.

 

[Bossobass]

WTB answer to this question.

The best answer is research.

Walter J. "John" Williams was born in 1949. He received an A.B. in Economics, cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1971, and was awarded a M.B.A. from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School of Business Administration in 1972, where he was named an Edward Tuck Scholar. During his career as a consulting economist, John has worked with individuals as well as Fortune 500 companies.

Formally known as Walter J. Williams, my friends call me John. For more than 25 years, I have been a private consulting economist and, out of necessity, had to become a specialist in government economic reporting.

One of my early clients was a large manufacturer of commercial airplanes, who had developed an econometric model for predicting revenue passenger miles. The level of revenue passenger miles was their primary sales forecasting tool, and the model was heavily dependent on the GNP (now GDP) as reported by the Department of Commerce. Suddenly, their model stopped working, and they asked me if I could fix it. I realized the GNP numbers were faulty, corrected them for my client (official reporting was similarly revised a couple of years later) and the model worked again, at least for a while, until GNP methodological changes eventually made the underlying data worthless.

That began a lengthy process of exploring the history and nature of economic reporting and in interviewing key people involved in the process from the early days of government reporting through the present. For a number of years I conducted surveys among business economists as to the quality of government statistics (the vast majority thought it was pretty bad), and my results led to front page stories in the New York Times and Investors Business Daily, considerable coverage in the broadcast media and a joint meeting with representatives of all the government's statistical agencies. Despite minor changes to the system, government reporting has deteriorated sharply in the last decade or so. -- John Williams

Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC.

He previously worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor at Bucknell University. His blog, Beat the Press, features commentary on economic reporting.

He received his Ph.D in economics from the University of Michigan.

He has written numerous books and articles, including The United States Since 1980, Cambridge University Press, March 2007; The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer, Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2006; Social Security: The Phony Crisis (with Mark Weisbrot), University of Chicago Press, 1999; "Asset Returns and Economic Growth," (with Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman), Brookings Papers

I am a Chicago Econ PhD. Can’t reveal any more information because my tenure could be at stake. Hopefully, you will judge my remark based on the content.

First of all, I think there is a quite a bit of confusion as to how the price system works. This is not only an issue with undergraduates in Microeconomics, but also policy-makers, politicians and clearly economic journalists. Free market economists believe that prices established without distortion reveal preferences about agents in the economy. Prices with distortion will also reveal the same but then you have to disentangle how much of it is from distortion and how much from actual preferences.

Conducting monetary policy in secret is a huge distortion. The market should not have to guess what the Fed is upto. That cost could simply be eliminated if prices (i.e. interest rate) is established in the free market without interference from the Fed. Look at the yield curve. The right side of the yield curve is primarily established by the market and it is significantly more stable than the left end where the Fed has a lot of monopoly power. The right end may shift up or down (a result of the Fed’s shifting the level), but it is lot less volatile than the short end of the yield curve.

We simply do not need the Fed. Now, if I don’t make tenure and have to get a cushy Fed job, I may sing a different tune. From an impartial point of view, the Fed creates unnecessary distortions in the capital market which we don’t need.

George Selgin, Univ. of Georgia
Peter Boettke, George Mason U.
Thomas DiLorenzo, Loyala University in Baltimore
Roger Garrison, Auburn University
George Reisman, Pepperdine University

Marc Faber was born in Zurich and schooled in Geneva, Switzerland. He studied Economics at the University of Zurich and, at the age of 24, obtained a Ph.D. degree in Economics

Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's "lost decade" in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

Burton Abrams, Univ. of Delaware
Douglas Adie, Ohio University
Ryan Amacher, Univ. of Texas at Arlington
J.J. Arias, Georgia College & State University
Howard Baetjer, Jr., Towson University
Stacie Beck, Univ. of Delaware
Don Bellante, Univ. of South Florida
James Bennett, George Mason University
Bruce Benson, Florida State University
Sanjai Bhagat, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
Mark Bils, Univ. of Rochester
Alberto Bisin, New York University
Walter Block, Loyola University New Orleans
Cecil Bohanon, Ball State University
Michele Boldrin, Washington University in St. Louis
Donald Booth, Chapman University
Michael Bordo, Rutgers University
Samuel Bostaph, Univ. of Dallas
Scott Bradford, Brigham Young University
Genevieve Briand, Eastern Washington University
George Brower, Moravian College
James Buchanan, Nobel laureate
Richard Burdekin, Claremont McKenna College
Henry Butler, Northwestern University
William Butos, Trinity College
Peter Calcagno, College of Charleston
Bryan Caplan, George Mason University
Art Carden, Rhodes College
James Cardon, Brigham Young University
Dustin Chambers, Salisbury University
Emily Chamlee-Wright, Beloit College
V.V. Chari, Univ. of Minnesota
Barry Chiswick, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
Lawrence Cima, John Carroll University
J.R. Clark, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Gian Luca Clementi, New York University
R. Morris Coats, Nicholls State University
John Cochran, Metropolitan State College
John Cochrane, Univ. of Chicago
John Cogan, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
John Coleman, Duke University
Boyd Collier, Tarleton State University
Robert Collinge, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
Lee Coppock, Univ. of Virginia
Mario Crucini, Vanderbilt University
Christopher Culp, Univ. of Chicago
Kirby Cundiff, Northeastern State University
Antony Davies, Duquesne University
John Dawson, Appalachian State University
Clarence Deitsch, Ball State University
Arthur Diamond, Jr., Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha
John Dobra, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
James Dorn, Towson University
Christopher Douglas, Univ. of Michigan, Flint
Floyd Duncan, Virginia Military Institute
Francis Egan, Trinity College
John Egger, Towson University
Kenneth Elzinga, Univ. of Virginia
Paul Evans, Ohio State University
Eugene Fama, Univ. of Chicago
W. Ken Farr, Georgia College & State University
Hartmut Fischer, Univ. of San Francisco
Fred Foldvary, Santa Clara University
Murray Frank, Univ. of Minnesota
Peter Frank, Wingate University
Timothy Fuerst, Bowling Green State University
B. Delworth Gardner, Brigham Young University
John Garen, Univ. of Kentucky
Rick Geddes, Cornell University
Aaron Gellman, Northwestern University
William Gerdes, Clarke College
Michael Gibbs, Univ. of Chicago
Stephan Gohmann, Univ. of Louisville
Rodolfo Gonzalez, San Jose State University
Richard Gordon, Penn State University
Peter Gordon, Univ. of Southern California
Ernie Goss, Creighton University
Paul Gregory, Univ. of Houston
Earl Grinols, Baylor University
Daniel Gropper, Auburn University
R.W. Hafer, Southern Illinois
University, Edwardsville
Arthur Hall, Univ. of Kansas
Steve Hanke, Johns Hopkins
Stephen Happel, Arizona State University
Frank Hefner, College of Charleston
Ronald Heiner, George Mason University
David Henderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Robert Herren, North Dakota State University
Gailen Hite, Columbia University
Steven Horwitz, St. Lawrence University
John Howe, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
Jeffrey Hummel, San Jose State University
Bruce Hutchinson, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Brian Jacobsen, Wisconsin Lutheran College
Jason Johnston, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Boyan Jovanovic, New York University
Jonathan Karpoff, Univ. of Washington
Barry Keating, Univ. of Notre Dame
Naveen Khanna, Michigan State University
Nicholas Kiefer, Cornell University
Daniel Klein, George Mason University
Paul Koch, Univ. of Kansas
Narayana Kocherlakota, Univ. of Minnesota
Marek Kolar, Delta College
Roger Koppl, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Kishore Kulkarni, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Deepak Lal, UCLA
George Langelett, South Dakota State University
James Larriviere, Spring Hill College
Robert Lawson, Auburn University
John Levendis, Loyola University New Orleans
David Levine, Washington University in St. Louis
Peter Lewin, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
Dean Lillard, Cornell University
Zheng Liu, Emory University
Alan Lockard, Binghampton University
Edward Lopez, San Jose State University
John Lunn, Hope College
Glenn MacDonald, Washington
University in St. Louis
Michael Marlow, California
Polytechnic State University
Deryl Martin, Tennessee Tech University
Dale Matcheck, Northwood University
Deirdre McCloskey, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago
John McDermott, Univ. of South Carolina
Joseph McGarrity, Univ. of Central Arkansas
Roger Meiners, Univ. of Texas at Arlington
Allan Meltzer, Carnegie Mellon University
John Merrifield, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
James Miller III, George Mason University
Jeffrey Miron, Harvard University
Thomas Moeller, Texas Christian University
John Moorhouse, Wake Forest University
Andrea Moro, Vanderbilt University
Andrew Morriss, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Michael Munger, Duke University
Kevin Murphy, Univ. of Southern California
Richard Muth, Emory University
Charles Nelson, Univ. of Washington
Seth Norton, Wheaton College
Lee Ohanian, Univ. of California, Los Angeles
Lydia Ortega, San Jose State University
Evan Osborne, Wright State University
Randall Parker, East Carolina University
Donald Parsons, George Washington University
Sam Peltzman, Univ. of Chicago
Mark Perry, Univ. of Michigan, Flint
Christopher Phelan, Univ. of Minnesota
Gordon Phillips, Univ. of Maryland
Michael Pippenger, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks
Tomasz Piskorski, Columbia University
Brennan Platt, Brigham Young University
Joseph Pomykala, Towson University
William Poole, Univ. of Delaware
Barry Poulson, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
Benjamin Powell, Suffolk University
Edward Prescott, Nobel laureate
Gary Quinlivan, Saint Vincent College
Reza Ramazani, Saint Michael's College
Adriano Rampini, Duke University
Eric Rasmusen, Indiana University
Mario Rizzo, New York University
Richard Roll, Univ. of California, Los Angeles
Robert Rossana, Wayne State University
James Roumasset, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
John Rowe, Univ. of South Florida
Charles Rowley, George Mason University
Juan Rubio-Ramirez, Duke University
Roy Ruffin, Univ. of Houston
Kevin Salyer, Univ. of California, Davis
Pavel Savor, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Ronald Schmidt, Univ. of Rochester
Carlos Seiglie, Rutgers University
William Shughart II, Univ. of Mississippi
Charles Skipton, Univ. of Tampa
James Smith, Western Carolina University
Vernon Smith, Nobel laureate
Lawrence Southwick, Jr., Univ. at Buffalo
Dean Stansel, Florida Gulf Coast University
Houston Stokes, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
Brian Strow, Western Kentucky University
Shirley Svorny, California State
University, Northridge
John Tatom, Indiana State University
Wade Thomas, State University of New York at Oneonta
Henry Thompson, Auburn University
Alex Tokarev, The King's College
Edward Tower, Duke University
Leo Troy, Rutgers University
David Tuerck, Suffolk University
Charlotte Twight, Boise State University
Kamal Upadhyaya, Univ. of New Haven
Charles Upton, Kent State University
T. Norman Van Cott, Ball State University
Richard Vedder, Ohio University
Richard Wagner, George Mason University
Douglas M. Walker, College of Charleston
Douglas O. Walker, Regent University
Christopher Westley, Jacksonville State University
Lawrence White, Univ. of Missouri at St. Louis
Walter Williams, George Mason University
Doug Wills, Univ. of Washington Tacoma
Dennis Wilson, Western Kentucky University
Gary Wolfram, Hillsdale College
Huizhong Zhou, Western Michigan University
Additional economists who have signed the statement

Lee Adkins, Oklahoma State University
William Albrecht, Univ. of Iowa
Donald Alexander, Western Michigan University
Geoffrey Andron, Austin Community College
Nathan Ashby, Univ. of Texas at El Paso
George Averitt, Purdue North Central University
Charles Baird, California State University, East Bay
Timothy Bastian, Creighton University
Joe Bell, Missouri State University, Springfield
John Bethune, Barton College
Robert Bise, Orange Coast College
Karl Borden, University of Nebraska
Donald Boudreaux, George Mason University
Ivan Brick, Rutgers University
Phil Bryson, Brigham Young University
Richard Burkhauser, Cornell University
Edwin Burton, Univ. of Virginia
Jim Butkiewicz, Univ. of Delaware
Richard Cebula, Armstrong Atlantic State University
Don Chance, Louisiana State University
Robert Chatfield, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas
Lloyd Cohen, George Mason University
Peter Colwell, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Michael Connolly, Univ. of Miami
Jim Couch, Univ. of North Alabama
Eleanor Craig, Univ. of Delaware
Michael Daniels, Columbus State University
A. Edward Day, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
Stephen Dempsey, Univ. of Vermont
Veronique de Rugy, George Mason University
Allan DeSerpa, Arizona State University
William Dewald, Ohio State University
Jeff Dorfman, Univ. of Georgia
Lanny Ebenstein, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
Michael Erickson, The College of Idaho
Jack Estill, San Jose State University
Dorla Evans, Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville
Frank Falero, California State University, Bakersfield
Daniel Feenberg, National Bureau of Economic Research
Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University
Arthur Fleisher, Metropolitan State College of Denver
William Ford, Middle Tennessee State University
Ralph Frasca, Univ. of Dayton
Joseph Giacalone, St. John's University
Adam Gifford, California State Unviersity, Northridge
Otis Gilley, Louisiana Tech University
J. Edward Graham, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Richard Grant, Lipscomb University
William Green, Sam Houston State University
Kenneth Greene, Binghamton University
Gauri-Shankar Guha, Arkansas State University
Darren Gulla, Univ. of Kentucky
Dennis Halcoussis, California State University, Northridge
Richard Hart, Miami University
James Hartley, Mount Holyoke College
Thomas Hazlett, George Mason University
Scott Hein, Texas Tech University
Bradley Hobbs, Florida Gulf Coast University
John Hoehn, Michigan State University
Matt Holian, San Jose State University
Daniel Houser, George Mason University
Thomas Howard, University of Denver
Chris Hughen, Univ. of Denver
Marcus Ingram, Univ. of Tampa
Joseph Jadlow, Oklahoma State University
Sherry Jarrell, Wake Forest University
Scott Kelly, Albany State University
Carrie Kerekes, Florida Gulf Coast University
Robert Krol, California State University, Northridge
James Kurre, Penn State Erie
Peter Leeson, George Mason University
Tom Lehman, Indiana Wesleyan University
W. Cris Lewis, Utah State University
Stan Liebowitz, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
Anthony Losasso, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
John Lott, Jr., Univ. of Maryland
Keith Malone, Univ. of North Alabama
Henry Manne, George Mason University
Richard Marcus, Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
James Barney Marsh, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Timothy Mathews, Kennesaw State University
John Matsusaka, Univ. of Southern California
Thomas Mayor, Univ. of Houston
John McConnell, Purdue University
W. Douglas McMillin, Louisiana State University
Mario Miranda, The Ohio State University
Ed Miseta, Penn State Erie
James Moncur, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
Charles Moss, Univ. of Florida
Tim Muris, George Mason University
John Murray, Univ. of Toledo
David Mustard, Univ. of Georgia
Steven Myers, Univ. of Akron
Dhananjay Nanda, University of Miami
Stephen Parente, Univ. of Minnesota
Allen Parkman, Univ. of New Mexico
Douglas Patterson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and University
Timothy Perri, Appalachian State University
Mark Pingle, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
Ivan Pongracic, Hillsdale College
Robert Prati, East Carolina University
Richard Rawlins, Missouri Southern State University
Thomas Rhee, California State University, Long Beach
Christine Ries, Georgia Institute of Technology
Nancy Roberts, Arizona State University
Larry Ross, Univ. of Alaska Anchorage
Timothy Roth, Univ. of Texas at El Paso
Atulya Sarin, Santa Clara University
Thomas Saving, Texas A&M University
Eric Schansberg, Indiana University Southeast
John Seater, North Carolina University
Alan Shapiro, Univ. of Southern California
Thomas Simmons, Greenfield Community College
W. James Smith, University of Colorado Denver
Frank Spreng, McKendree University
Judith Staley Brenneke, John Carroll University
John E. Stapleford, Eastern University
Courtenay Stone, Ball State University
Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, UCLA
Scott Sumner, Bentley University
Clifford Thies, Shenandoah University
William Trumbull, West Virginia University
A. Sinan Unur, Cornell University
Randall Valentine, Georgia Southwestern State University
Gustavo Ventura, Univ. of Iowa
Marc Weidenmier, Claremont McKenna College
Robert Whaples, Wake Forest University
Gene Wunder, Washburn University
John Zdanowicz, Florida International University
Jerry Zimmerman, Univ. of Rochester
Joseph Zoric, Franciscan University of Steubenville

This is a partial list, but should be enough to get one started, if you are serious enough about the subject to really get involved.

The Fed has:

Hired former Enron chief lobbyist Robertson to "help improve the Fed's image with Congress" (Your guess is as good as mine as to what that really means)

Written a letter defending "Fed Independence" (as directly opposed to American Independence) and had 200 economists sign it and sent it to every member of Congress and the Executive branch.

Released the hounds of media to bash HR1207 and Ron Paul (the old crank, anti-Fed, Libertarian Kook).

Sent Bennie on a road trip to scare the dolts into leaving the private banking cartel to their secret bunker with our money with no questions asked... or else.

Congress: "So, to whom did you lend or guarantee the trillions to?"
Bennie: "I can't tell you that."
Congress: "What were the terms of those loans and/or loan guarantees?"
Bennie: "I can't say."
Congress: "What do you mean you can't tell us? We're talking about the American citizen's money here! How is it that you don't have to tell us where it went?"
Bennie: "I suggest you take that up amongst yourselves, because Congress gave us that authority in 1913 in the Federal Reserve Act."

Click the Operation: Kickstart link and pledge to mail 2 letters. If you already have, spread the link to someone who hasn't today. Call, fax, e-mail and visit your Rep and Senators.

Time (and 250 years of wealth produced by and belonging to the American people) is running out.

Bosso

 

[angelatc]

I posted Thomas Sowell, and the blogger actually emailed me to tell me he loved one of Sowell's books.

I didn't respond. The guy is clearly affiliated with the lobbying effort currently underway, and therefore has no integrity.

 

[youdontknowyourself]

http://tiny.cc/SY9wd

 

[Mani]

Considerable historical experience suggests that political interference with monetary policy decisions can lead to regrettable outcomes — which is why Congress itself decided to forswear such interference. The dangers are especially great at a moment like the present one, when the prospect of large government deficits for years to come could easily make short-sighted decisions to use monetary policy to facilitate the financing of those deficits all too tempting.

Hmmm...Because the Fed is doing such a GREAT JOB of restraining itself from large government deficits and short-sighted decisions RIGHT NOW.

Is he saying there's a chance we'll spend ourselves into oblivion?? Aren't we already doing that???? What's the difference, a bit faster than we are now???

Because if there's a risk of spending ourselves into destruction in 7 years instead of 10, I'm willing to take that risk. What's the consequence? We destroyed our country a little faster? What's the risk if we don't? We stay on the same path toward ruining our currency.

The FED and/or government isn't doing such a great job of avoiding temptation at the moment. And from this guy's perspective we'll be burning up our currency a bit quicker.

Yet there's also a chance that instead of killing ourselves in secrecy, we'd have to do it in the public eye, and maybe just maybe, the public will get outraged enough to demand our public officials to stop.

 

[Pauls' Revere]

and none of the people on The FED board are elected by the people nor held accountable to them.

 

[angelatc]

http://tiny.cc/SY9wd

Upon closer inspection it was clear that only 20 are in the list of the top 1000 economists in the nation.

I wonder where "the list" is?

Then I ran into a big list of those in support. Then I got tired.

Happened about the same time?

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

PRICELESS
How The Federal Reserve Bought The Economics Profession

Big article on front of Huff Post right now

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/