Friday, October 30, 2015

Rand Paul & Ted Cruz slam Federal Reserve

In GOP Debate, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul Tear at Fundamentals of the Fed - Michael S. Derby, Wall Street Journal:

October 29, 2015 - "Two Republican presidential candidates blasted the Federal Reserve on a fundamental level in a debate Wednesday night, airing their criticisms of the central bank before a prime-time television audience.

"Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky criticized the Fed’s impact on the economy and called for new operating regimes that would limit the central bank’s influence....

"Mr. Cruz lambasted what he saw as a 'star chamber' of central bankers implementing radical policies with little democratic accountability. He was particularly concerned with the now-ended campaigns of long-term bond purchases the Fed employed to provide stimulus.

"Mr. Cruz also said the Fed has an inflation problem on its hands. 'If you look at a single mom buying groceries, she sees hamburger prices have gone up nearly 40%. She sees her cost of electricity going up. She sees her health insurance going up. And loose money is one of the major problems,' he said. 'I think the Fed should get out of the business of trying to juice our economy and simply be focused on sound money and monetary stability, ideally tied to gold,' Mr. Cruz said.

"Mr. Cruz is correct that, since 2008, the Fed has had an aggressive monetary-policy stance, with short-term rates at near-zero levels, amid several rounds of large-scale bond purchases, as well as other tools to provide stimulus....

"Mr. Paul said in the debate that 'the Fed has been a great problem in our society' and that its policies have helped fuel economic inequality. He also made a plug for legislation that would audit the monetary-policy-making functions of the Fed, something central bankers and many economists believe would politicize rate policy and make it less effective.

"Mr. Paul also wants to fundamentally end how the central bank influences the economy. 'What you need to do is free up interest rates. Interest rates are the price of money, and we shouldn’t have price controls on the price of money,' the legislator said in the debate."

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-gop-debate-ted-cruz-and-rand-paul-tear-at-fundamentals-of-the-fed-1446144549
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