jct74
10-11-2013, 12:13 PM
Rand Paul: Why I Plan to Grill Yellen
The long-secretive Federal Reserve needs to be audited so that the public can know what this institution is doing to the nation's money supply
By Sen. Rand Paul
Oct. 11, 2013
President Obama’s announcement of Janet Yellen as his choice as the new Federal Reserve chairman has prompted speculation about what this might mean for our central bank. Perhaps this can best be judged by reviewing its recent history and Yellen’s place in it.
It is also important to focus on the fact that the Federal Reserve is structurally flawed. The institution needs to be reformed to prevent Yellen, or any other future nominee, from using the enormous power of the Fed to aid and abet the allies of big government. I intend on using the Senate’s constitutional power of consent to nominations as a means to educate the American people on the structural flaws and policies of the Fed that are bankrupting our nation.
The Fed’s favored practice of “quantitative easing” has been questionable at best. One need not be an economist or mathematician to wonder whether printing money out of thin air is a sound way to help the economy. Still, as The Washington Post’s Neil Irwin notes, “Yellen has been not merely an engineer of the Fed’s policies of ‘quantitative easing’ and ‘forward guidance,’ but a consistent voice within the central bank to go further.”
Will it now go further? Matt Nesto at Yahoo Finance added, “Yellen, who is the current vice chair of the Fed, is known for her staunch support of the controversial easy money policies that have dominated Bernanke’s two terms as Fed chief.”
“Controversial,” to say the least.
The Federal Reserve might be the most secretive institution in our history. For decades, Fed officials, politicians and various “experts” have insisted that such secrecy was integral to its independence, and therefore effectiveness. But during Bernanke’s two terms we have seen QE1 (quantitative easing), QE2 and QE3, and all were ineffective, if not destructive. An unprecedented amount of new dollars has been injected into the economy. In 2009, it was even reported that the Fed could not account for $9 trillion in off-sheet balance transactions. That amount is more than half our national debt.
...
read more:
http://ideas.time.com/2013/10/11/rand-paul-why-i-plan-to-grill-yellen/?iid=op-main-lead
The long-secretive Federal Reserve needs to be audited so that the public can know what this institution is doing to the nation's money supply
By Sen. Rand Paul
Oct. 11, 2013
President Obama’s announcement of Janet Yellen as his choice as the new Federal Reserve chairman has prompted speculation about what this might mean for our central bank. Perhaps this can best be judged by reviewing its recent history and Yellen’s place in it.
It is also important to focus on the fact that the Federal Reserve is structurally flawed. The institution needs to be reformed to prevent Yellen, or any other future nominee, from using the enormous power of the Fed to aid and abet the allies of big government. I intend on using the Senate’s constitutional power of consent to nominations as a means to educate the American people on the structural flaws and policies of the Fed that are bankrupting our nation.
The Fed’s favored practice of “quantitative easing” has been questionable at best. One need not be an economist or mathematician to wonder whether printing money out of thin air is a sound way to help the economy. Still, as The Washington Post’s Neil Irwin notes, “Yellen has been not merely an engineer of the Fed’s policies of ‘quantitative easing’ and ‘forward guidance,’ but a consistent voice within the central bank to go further.”
Will it now go further? Matt Nesto at Yahoo Finance added, “Yellen, who is the current vice chair of the Fed, is known for her staunch support of the controversial easy money policies that have dominated Bernanke’s two terms as Fed chief.”
“Controversial,” to say the least.
The Federal Reserve might be the most secretive institution in our history. For decades, Fed officials, politicians and various “experts” have insisted that such secrecy was integral to its independence, and therefore effectiveness. But during Bernanke’s two terms we have seen QE1 (quantitative easing), QE2 and QE3, and all were ineffective, if not destructive. An unprecedented amount of new dollars has been injected into the economy. In 2009, it was even reported that the Fed could not account for $9 trillion in off-sheet balance transactions. That amount is more than half our national debt.
...
read more:
http://ideas.time.com/2013/10/11/rand-paul-why-i-plan-to-grill-yellen/?iid=op-main-lead