The Case Against the Fed from a US Senator
by ilene - March 11th, 2010 10:52 pm
The Case Against the Fed from a US Senator
Courtesy of JESSE’S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
If you read through this letter from US Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is also the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Economic Policy, you will get a grasp of how badly the Fed has mishandled its responsibilities over the past ten years at least.
I thought the Senator was far too kind and reserved in his criticism. Yes, the Fed did focus on inflation. Unfortunately the definition of inflation which they used was inappropriate, since it did not include the obvious asset bubbles which were created by the Fed’s own monetary policies.
In addition, the Fed not only neglected its role in consumer protection, it took an activist opposition to the regulation of new financial instruments such as derivatives that has created a position that even today leaves the US in a financially precarious position.
This is particularly galling when one hears of the schemes being concocted by the bank friendly Senators, Dodd, Corker and Shelby, to move more of the weak banking reforms into the Fed, which is itself a private institution owned by these very banks that it will regulate.
This is not the appropriate level of financial reform that the American people deserve. And if you notice to whom Senator Sherrod is addressing his concerns, you will understand my lack of enthusiasm or any change or improvement in this sorry state of affairs.
March 10, 2010
The Honorable Timothy Geithner
Secretary, United States Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220The Honorable Lawrence Summers
Director, National Economic Council
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500Dear Secretary Geithner and Director Summers,
I write to you today to express my concern about the vacancies at the Federal Reserve, both on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and soon in the Vice Chairman’s office. This is the financial equivalent of leaving open vacancies on the United States Supreme Court, and it is essential that we fill these positions.
As