On Thursday July 22^nd, the Brady-Cornyn Centennial Monetary Commission was a subject of a House Monetary Policy Subcommittee hearing. The Centennial Monetary Commission Act of 2015 (HR 2912) was introduced by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) just over a month ago and has quickly garnered the support of 29 House co-sponsors.  It has since been referred to the House Financial Services Committee.

The Centennial Monetary Commission was designed to “chart the territory” for the Federal Reserve by producing an empirical study of the impact of various Fed policies on the real economy over its first 100 years, and making recommendations to Congress.

The Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade conducted hearings on July 22^nd in which Prof. John Taylor of Stanford University, and  Dr. Paul H. Kupiec, Resident Scholar at American Enterprise Institute, both praised the Commission, and Dr. John Cochrane, senior fellow of Hoover Institution at Stanford University, stated: “It is wise for Congress and the Federal Reserve to rethink the fundamental structures under which the Fed operates.”

The Subcommittee issued a media release on the hearing quoting its chairman, Rep. Bill Huizinga, who said: “The Fed’s recent high degree of discretion and its lack of transparency in how it conducts monetary policy demonstrate that not only are reforms needed, but more important that reforms are necessary.”

The Centennial Monetary Commission proposed legislation in the 113^th, and now 114^th  Congress, which has drawn praise from American Principles in Action, Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and representatives from Hoover Institution and The American Enterprise Institute.

APIA’s senior economic advisor, and regular contributor to The Pulse, Ralph Benko wrote in a column earlier this week: “This process promises to chart the course out of what others have called “uncharted territory” and I have called “The Little Dark Age” of economic stagnation. It portends to put America, and the world, back onto the road to economic flourishing for workers….”