“Fed Hit by Subpoena - Fasten Your Seatbelt” By Axel Merk
By Daniel at 15 June, 2009, 10:16 am
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“The Federal Reserve was served a subpoena from a Congressional committee Tuesday, as lawmakers demanded documents related to Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. In our view, this is a precursor of more trouble to come for the Fed.
We have argued for some time that Fed Chairman Bernanke completely underestimates the political dimensions of the policies he pursues. The various “credit easing” programs have little to do with monetary policy, the domain of the Fed. Monetary policy ought to be concerned with money supply or the level of interest rates, thereby allowing the markets to decide where the money flows.
Instead, the Fed has been targeting specific sectors of the economy, such as helping the housing market or enabling car loans. The motivation is understandable, as the Fed is well aware that it may not be powerful enough to support the housing market otherwise, and sees it as crucial in its plan to prop up the economy.
However, allocating money to specific sectors of the economy is fiscal policy and, as such, should be authorized and supervised by Congress. This facet is perilous for the Fed to ignore, as it invites political backlash. Last week, Bernanke was grilled by the House Budget Committee, giving him a taste of more to come; the subpoena is a further step.”
The full article is at:
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/merk/2009/0611.html
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