Is monetary policy the sleeper issue of 2016? Two candidates, Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, are already outspoken critics of the Federal Reserve, and Cruz appears to be doubling down in his criticism in an effort to undercut his rival. “What the Fed is doing is dangerous,” he said at a rally over the weekend. “They are debasing the currency with QE1, QE2, QE infinity!”
Now, two more GOP candidates are finally taking an interest in monetary policy’s impact on the economy. Richard Bove, writing for MSNBC, noted that Senator Marco Rubio went out of his way to address Dodd-Frank (a bill that massively increased Fed control of the U.S. banking system) in last weeks’ Republican primary debate:
During last week’s GOP debate, not one of the Fox moderators asked a question about the banking system and money flows through the system. They were far more interested in baiting Donald Trump.
Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was the only one who addressed the banking system. He loudly and clearly said we must eliminate the Dodd-Frank Act. This is the act that gave the government total control over the banking system and money flows in the economy.
It’s appropriate that he mentioned Fox moderators were “far more interested in Trump,” however, because the only other Republican candidate talking about monetary policy was—you guessed it—none other than the Donald himself!
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said China’s devaluation of the yuan would be “devastating” for the United States.
“They’re just destroying us,” the billionaire businessman, a long-time critic of China’s currency policy, said in a CNN interview.
“They keep devaluing their currency until they get it right. They’re doing a big cut in the yuan, and that’s going to be devastating for us.”
It’s rare for Republicans to admit that massive swings in monetary policy can have an impact on the economy, so Rubio and Trump deserve credit for their willingness to take on this issue. Hopefully, their sudden eagerness to talk about it is a sign that the Republican Party is coming around to the fact that the path to equitable prosperity includes addressing the dollar.
Nick Arnold is a researcher for American Principles in Action.
