The big guns are out, Reuters James Pethokoukis: Ron Paul’s Fed plan is economic suicide
Jul/090
– James Pethokoukis is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own –
By James Pethokoukis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve is at least partially to blame for the economic crisis. It left interest rates too low for too long, and laxly regulated the megabanks.
Given this reality, or at least this public perception, it’s not surprising that there are plenty of economists and politicos with oodles of ideas for re-imagining the central bank’s role and function.
Then there is Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican and libertarian who would rather imagine a fantasy world without a Fed. Throughout his political career, Paul has repeatedly called for the Fed’s abolition, preferring Congress to take full control of monetary policy and eliminate fiat money in favor of a gold-backed national currency.
Since Paul can’t eliminate the Fed outright, he’s trying to emasculate it. Impinging on, and eventually ending, the central bank’s independence is the purpose of the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, Paul’s bill which would “eliminate restrictions on audits of the Federal Reserve and open Fed operations to enhanced scrutiny.”
As it currently stands, the Government Accountability Office is not allowed to audit the monetary policy actions of the Fed, and that is the real ballgame for Paul.
And what’s wrong with a little more sunshine on the Fed? Nothing, many Americans apparently think. A Rasmussen poll finds that 75 percent “favor auditing the Federal Reserve and making the results available to the public.”
…. continue reading: http://www.reuters.com/ar…
Ron Paul Invite to Orlando is a Peace Offering, Orange GOP Chief Says
Jul/090
Orange County is scheduled to host U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, the Libertarian presidential hopeful whose surge in popularity attracted new members to local Republican Party chapters, but in many cases sparked divisive fights for power.
That certainly played out in Orange, where county GOP chief Lew Oliver barely beat back a challenge by Paul supporters who teamed up last year with other dissidents and almost unseated the long-time leader. Oliver won his post by a slim 122-121 vote.
Since then, Oliver has continued to fend off internal challenges, many of them fueled by Paul supporters.
But Oliver said he wants to make nice, and it was his idea to invite Paul to speak to the county’s Republican Party Executive Committee on Thursday. On Friday, Paul is scheduled to speak at the Florida Liberty Summit event, also in Orlando.
Oliver said bringing Paul to the party’s executive committee to speak was meant to make a point, that the party is open to all viewpoints, he said. “This was not their idea, it was mine,” Oliver said.
Ron Paul Invite to Orlando is a Peace Offering, Orange GOP Chief Says
Jul/090
Orange County is scheduled to host U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, the Libertarian presidential hopeful whose surge in popularity attracted new members to local Republican Party chapters, but in many cases sparked divisive fights for power.
That certainly played out in Orange, where county GOP chief Lew Oliver barely beat back a challenge by Paul supporters who teamed up last year with other dissidents and almost unseated the long-time leader. Oliver won his post by a slim 122-121 vote.
Since then, Oliver has continued to fend off internal challenges, many of them fueled by Paul supporters.
But Oliver said he wants to make nice, and it was his idea to invite Paul to speak to the county’s Republican Party Executive Committee on Thursday. On Friday, Paul is scheduled to speak at the Florida Liberty Summit event, also in Orlando.
Oliver said bringing Paul to the party’s executive committee to speak was meant to make a point, that the party is open to all viewpoints, he said. “This was not their idea, it was mine,” Oliver said.
Recession 2x Worse Than Prior Estimates, Revisions Show
Jul/090
Guess what? They underestimated the pain.
July 31 (Bloomberg) — The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice as much as previously estimated, reflecting even bigger declines in consumer spending and housing, revised figures showed.
The world’s largest economy contracted 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the last three months of 2008, compared with the 0.8 percent drop previously on the books, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.
“The current downturn beginning in 2008 is more pronounced,” Steven Landefeld, director of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a press briefing this week. The revisions were in line with past experience in which initial figures tended to underestimate the severity of contractions during their early stages, he said.
The updated statistics also showed that Americans earned more over the last 10 years and socked away a larger share of that cash in savings. The report signals the process of repairing tattered balance sheets following the biggest drop in household wealth on record may be further along than anticipated.
Recession 2x Worse Than Prior Estimates, Revisions Show
Jul/090
Guess what? They underestimated the pain.
July 31 (Bloomberg) — The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice as much as previously estimated, reflecting even bigger declines in consumer spending and housing, revised figures showed.
The world’s largest economy contracted 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the last three months of 2008, compared with the 0.8 percent drop previously on the books, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.
“The current downturn beginning in 2008 is more pronounced,” Steven Landefeld, director of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a press briefing this week. The revisions were in line with past experience in which initial figures tended to underestimate the severity of contractions during their early stages, he said.
The updated statistics also showed that Americans earned more over the last 10 years and socked away a larger share of that cash in savings. The report signals the process of repairing tattered balance sheets following the biggest drop in household wealth on record may be further along than anticipated.