The Federal Reserve Board has rejected a request by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for a public review of the central bank’s structure and governance, three people familiar with the matter said.
The Obama administration proposed on June 17 a financial- regulatory overhaul including a “comprehensive review” of the Fed’s “ability to accomplish its existing and proposed functions” and the role of its regional banks. The Fed was to lead the study and enlist the Treasury and “a wide range of external experts.”
Some top central bank officials, after agreeing to the review, saw a potential threat to Fed independence after the Treasury released the proposal, two of the people said. The Obama plan said the Treasury would consider recommendations from the review and “propose any changes to the Fed’s governance and structure.”
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U.S. lawmakers have also called for a review of the Fed’s power and structure, saying Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke overstepped his authority as he bailed out creditors of Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc. while battling a crisis that led to $1.62 trillion in writedowns and losses at financial firms.
No Work Done
While the report requested by the Treasury hasn’t been formally scrapped, no work has been done on the project, which was due Oct. 1, the people said. Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams declined to comment, as did Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith.
The central bank is performing its own reviews of possible operational changes following the financial crisis. Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke is leading an internal study of the roles of the directors that serve on each of the boards at regional Fed banks.
“The institution is trying to keep a low profile,” said Vincent Reinhart, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and the former director of Division of Monetary Affairs at the Fed Board. “To publish a report now invites comment on that report.”
‘Associated Costs’
The Senate passed 96-2 a nonbinding budget amendment in April supporting “an evaluation of the appropriate number and the associated costs” of the district banks. The measure was sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, and Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, the senior Republican on the panel.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, has also called for more scrutiny of the central bank, saying last year he aims to probe how the 12 regional Fed presidents are appointed and their role in setting interest rates. The Fed banks are semi-private entities, each overseen by a nine-member board of directors.
Legislation in both houses of Congress would allow for audits by the Government Accountability Office of the central bank’s monetary policy and other operations. Bernanke opposes the measure, which was introduced in the House by Representative Ron Paul of Texas, a Republican. Frank has scheduled a committee hearing on the issue for Sept. 25.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Personally, I like playing Bowling Green. When this series was originally scheduled BGU was cracking the Top 25 regularly. Recent seasons have not been so favorable for the Falcons, but this BSU/BGU matchup should not be overlooked.
Bowling Green comes into today’s matchup with the nations 11th ranked passing offense. Falcon’s QB Tyler Sheehan has thrown for an impressive 928 yards with 4 touches in BGU’s first three games. For comparison, last week’s opponent Fresno St. QB Colburn has only thrown for 637 yards and 6 touches. The Bronco defense, tested heavily with a balanced attack last week, will be challenged with a more vertical and one-sided approach this week.
Look for Boise State’s defensive unit to rebound a bit this week, having seen their numbers take minor hits with last week’s defensive errors and lapses. They come into this game giving up only 284 yards a game, ranking 29th in the nation. When sorted for defense against the passing attack, Boise State moves up to 25th best defensive unit in college football.
Away games are never easy and Bronco’s fan would be smart not to overlook this matchup.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The price of gold has been hanging near its historic highs, selling for more than $1,000 per ounce. In times of crisis — the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the collapse of Bear Stearns in spring 2008 — gold has spiked, as fearful investors grabbed for something they could hold onto.
But that’s not the case today. The U.S. is technically out of its Great Recession, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke recently said. New jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week. The stock markets are riding a 50 percent rally since March. And yet, gold keeps going up.
That means a growing number of investors, traders — and, most troublingly, foreign governments — don’t believe in the strength of the U.S. dollar, analysts warn. People buy gold when there’s fear.
“It’s not the fear of an event of some sort,” such as a terrorist attack, said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, whom I spoke to this week. “It’s the fear that the piece of paper in your pocket you call money will devalue over time.”
To stave off a liquidity crisis last year, Bernanke’s Fed turned on the money spigot, flooding the system — and world — with dollars. In the short term, that helped avert a second Great Depression. But in the long term, with each new dollar introduced into the system, each dollar you hold becomes worth less. That’s more than just inflation, which we think of as simply rising prices. That’s debasement of not only our currency, but the globe’s reserve currency. And that makes countries like China — which holds the greatest percentage of U.S. debt — very nervous.
“It amazes me that any self-respecting central banker is not alarmed that gold is over $1,000 and the dollar is trading at all-time record lows,” Boockvar said.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fired a shot at the Federal Reserve in her coming-out speech in Hong Kong today, blaming the central bank for the current crisis and disagreeing with the idea that the Fed should have a greater role in preventing the next crisis. It was an echo of fellow Republican and Texas congressman Ron Paul, who has led the charge in Congress to perform an audit of the Federal Reserve with an eye to eventually eliminating it.
“How can we discuss reform without addressing the government policies at the root of the problems? The root of the collapse? And how can we think that setting up the Fed as the monitor of systemic risk in the financial sector will result in meaningful reform?” she said. “The words ‘fox’ and ‘henhouse’ come to mind. The Fed’s decisions helped create the bubble. Look at the root cause of most asset bubbles, and you’ll see the Fed somewhere in the background.”
More generally, Mrs. Palin took the tack that the financial crisis occurred because government got in the way of free enterprise.
“Lack of government wasn’t the problem, government policies were the problem. The marketplace didn’t fail. It became exactly as common sense would expect it to,” she said. “The government ordered the loosening of lending standards. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates low. The government forced lending institutions to give loans to people who as I say, couldn’t afford them. Speculators spotted new investment vehicles, jumped on board and rating agencies underestimated risks. So many to be blamed on so many different levels, but the fact remains that these people were responding to a market solution created by government policies that ran contrary to common sense,” she said.
On the question of more complex economic issues, Mrs. Palin told the hall filled with bankers and economists, that would come later.
“Maybe you’re hoping to hear me discuss the derivations of the formula for effective rate of protection, followed by a brief discussion of the monetary approach to the balance of payments,” she said. “If time allows, a quick summary of factor price equalization. Maybe some thoughts on quantitative easing, but that’s for next time. Because I have spent my life closer to Main Street. That’s what I want to talk about is that view from Main Street,” she said.
See Also: WSJ Blogs: Ron Paul Q&A: Audit The Fed, Then End It
Nothing is more important at this period of time than auditing the Fed and stopping forced “swine flu” vaccinations. Any politician who tries to distract you off these two issues does not have his finger on the pulse and heartbeat of liberty.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
From the American Banking News:
Congressman Ron Paul informed the Campaign for Liberty that the House Financial Services Committee will hold hearings on Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve (H.R. 1207). The hearings are currently tentatively set for Friday, September 25th at 9:00 AM.
H.R. 1207: the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 would require the Government Account Office to audit the Federal Reserve’s funding facilities, including the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, Term Securities Lending Facility, and Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility. The GAO would then provide a full report of its findings to Congress. Paul believes that the legislation will shine light on the Federal Reserve’s secrecy and demonstrate to the country that the Federal Reserve doesn’t have the country’s best interest in mind.
Currently H.R. 1207 has 284 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and a similar piece of legislation, S.604: the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act has 24 co-sponsors in the senate. A recent opinion poll indicated that 75% of the American People support the idea of auditing the Federal Reserve.
John Tate, president of the Campaign for Liberty, stated in a press release, ”The Federal Reserve wields tremendous power and is at the center of our current economic storm of deficits, debt and bailouts. Congressman Barney Frank should be commended for his willingness to hold hearings on Fed transparency.”
Now that the legislation is gaining steam, some Libertarian activists are worried that the legislation will be attached to a larger financial regulatory reform bill that will provide increased power to the Federal Reserve or other agencies. Tate stated that attaching the bill to other legislation “would be a betrayal to the intent and spirit of H.R. 1207, and would be vigorously opposed by Campaign for Liberty.”