bobbyw24
01-29-2010, 05:36 AM
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Ben S. Bernanke, who won Senate approval for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman over a record number of opponents, may now have a tougher fight against threats to the central bank itself.
Lawmakers are considering legislation to remove a shield from congressional audits of monetary policy and strip the Fed of bank-supervision powers, measures that Bernanke opposes.
Call for Abolition
In the House, Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who has called for the abolition of the Fed, gathered more than 300 supporters and won passage last month of legislation to allow congressional investigators to audit Fed interest-rate decisions.
Lawmakers are also aiming to reduce the influence of regional Fed presidents or gain more say over their appointments, which are currently made by private boards of directors and approved by Fed governors in Washington.
“There are going to be additional constraints put on the Fed unless the administration leans hard to defend the Fed as an independent institution,” said Gregory Hess, a former Fed economist who’s now faculty dean at Claremont McKenna College in California.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-29/bernanke-may-have-harder-fight-defending-fed-after-confirmation.html
Lawmakers are considering legislation to remove a shield from congressional audits of monetary policy and strip the Fed of bank-supervision powers, measures that Bernanke opposes.
Call for Abolition
In the House, Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who has called for the abolition of the Fed, gathered more than 300 supporters and won passage last month of legislation to allow congressional investigators to audit Fed interest-rate decisions.
Lawmakers are also aiming to reduce the influence of regional Fed presidents or gain more say over their appointments, which are currently made by private boards of directors and approved by Fed governors in Washington.
“There are going to be additional constraints put on the Fed unless the administration leans hard to defend the Fed as an independent institution,” said Gregory Hess, a former Fed economist who’s now faculty dean at Claremont McKenna College in California.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-29/bernanke-may-have-harder-fight-defending-fed-after-confirmation.html