Is the Fed Off-Limits?
The liberal economic elite is circling the wagons to preserve the Federal Reserve. Alan Blinder denounces proposed laws which will “encourage congressional meddling with monetary policy.” Catherine Rampell takes up the cudgel against legislation mandating an audit of the Fed, on the grounds that “monetary policy is a complex technical apparatus that not everyone (read Congress) is equipped to operate.” What is raising the liberal establishment’s ire? Three modest bills authored by Representatives Scott Garrett and Thomas Massie, and Senator Rand Paul, which seek to remind the Federal Reserve for whom they work. The Federal Reserve is as close to