I've always avoided reporting on the Federal Reserve. I know it's more important than much of the stuff I cover, but it's so boring. How can I succeed on TV reporting on the Fed? Fed chairs even work at being dull.
Alan Greenspan said he tried to be obscure because he didn't want to spook markets. He called his obfuscation "Fedspeak." It's a far cry from the clarity of his language -- and principles -- when he was young and a disciple of libertarian Ayn Rand.
Outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his likely successor, Janet Yellen, are almost as boring.
But we should watch what they do. The Fed can destroy your savings and your future. The current crew of Fed bureaucrats has raised the Fed's balance sheet to a stunning 4 trillion dollars.
As Sen. Rand Paul's father, retired congressman Ron Paul, put it, "No secret cabal of government officials should have the authority to create money out of thin air."
He makes a good point. For three decades, Ron Paul was virtually alone among politicians in questioning the Fed. But now there are more. . . . The Fed was created to prevent bank runs. It would be a lender of last resort and create stability.
Yet 16 years after the Fed's creation, the Fed's low interest rates fueled the Roaring Twenties and led to the greatest stock market crash in history. Then the Fed's tight money worsened the Depression. . . . .
Front Porch Punditry
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Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:50 am
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Front Porch Punditry
