I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope of happiness beyond this life. I believe in equality of man, and I believe their religious duties consists of doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow creatures happy. My own mind is my own church. Thomas Paine
From economist.com
ECONOMISTS take central bank independence very seriously, and generally consider anything that undermines it bad policy. Its importance stems from the trade-off between the long-term and the short-term. The policies that generate temporary stimulus today can lead to uncertainty and reduced growth in the future. Politicians, with frequent election cycles, tend to be short-sided. Monetary policy can only balance the needs of the long- and the short-term when itas not hostage to the political process. Independence also ensures that the central bank can act swiftly during financial crisis. But as John Cochrane points out, independent power must be limited: The price of independence is limited power. Central banks that only try to control inflation, and only using one tool, such as purchases and sales of Treasury debt, can be walled off from the political process. As a country, we can decide that the price level will not be used for political purposes and assign its maintenance to technocrats. Since the financial crisis the scope of the Fedas regulatory duties have increased, and Mr Cochrane frets that this will ultimately undermine its independence.The more powerful it becomes, the more accountable it needs to be. Another new development in central banking is increased transparency. No one obsessively speculates about the demeanour of Ben Bernanke (the way we used to with Alan Greenspan) in order to guess the future path of interest rates. The Fed now has an explicit inflation target and has been open about what rates will be for the next few years. At first, this increased transparency seemed to be consistent with independence and with Mr Bernanke’s status as a scholar. As an academic he advocated a clear and consistent policy framework as the best practice of an effective, credible and independent central bank. But I recently spoke with a former Fed governor who claimed that the Fed must be more transparent to justify some of its extraordinary interventions. Does this make it more accountable for short-term economic performance, thereby undermining its independence? He says no, this level of transparency ultimately preserves independence. I admire Mr Bernanke for following many of the principles he preached as an academic. But sometimes I wonder if a cult of mysticism around the Fed chairman had its merits. And while the Fed may be more transparent when it comes to its traditional roles, the Wall Street Journalsuggestsit has become less transparent when it comes to its new regulatory powers. The Fed is making these sweeping changesathe most dramatic since the Great Depressionaalmost completely without public meetings. Rather than discussing rules and voting in public, as is done at other agencies with which the Fed often collaborates, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Fedas four other governors have held just two public meetings since July 2010. On 45 of 47 of the draft or final regulatory measures during that period, they have emailed their votes to the central bankas secretary. Needless to say this is has not passed unnoticed: The Fed isnat breaking any laws by not having open meetings. But it is breaking from a long tradition of airing regulatory matters at open meetings. Bipartisan criticsaincluding lawmakers and former regulatorsasay the Fedas cloistered approach deprives the public of insight into how rules are being written and makes it harder for Congress and others to hold them accountable for their decisions. aPeople have a right to know and hear the discussion and hear the presentations and the reasoning for these rules,a Sheila Bair, the former chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said in an interview. aAll of the other agencies which are governed by boards or commissions propose and approve these rules in public meetings,a she said. aI think it would be in the Fedas interest to do so as well.a So it does seem that more power does demand greater transparency and accountability. One wonders if that can coexist with independence. The Economistdetails in the most recent issue just how bad policy can be when set at the whims of interested political parties. After reading ourbriefing on Dodd-Frank, which describes the Fed’s new regulatory responsibilities one has to feel concern about the central bank’s status. An interesting line from the briefing: If the roles of many of these Dodd-Frank entities are overly familiar, their fundingawhich often skirts constitutional requirements for congressional approvalais more exotic. The new research bureau in the Treasury will be entitled to the proceeds of a new tax on banks. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will be funded by the Fed. This strikes me as weird. As Fed regulatory power grows so will its size. Financing for new activities relies on curious attrangements. Central bank operating budgets normally come out of revenues from their investment portfolio, and not directly from the printing press. Thereas good reason for that; it keeps the central bank independent and avoids the slippery slope of the government printing money to fund itself. The Fed balance sheet has gotten so enormous that it could support a small army right now, but I was under the impression that the size of its asset portfolio was temporary, built up to combat a very bad recession. Granted, at its present size, the Fed’s balance sheet could pay nearly 300,000 workers a salary of $100,000 a year for 100 years. That’s a lot of regulating. The principle matters, however. I take independence seriously, and I’m getting nervous.
Transcript of the August 7 broadcast featuring John Kerry, John McCain, Alan Greenspan, Austan Goolsbee, Rachel Maddow and Alex Castellanos.
From msnbc.msn
Transcript of the April 17, 2010 broadcast featuringA Tim Geithner, Alan Greenspan, Mike Lee, Jennifer Granholm, Jon Meacham, and A Tavis Smiley.
From msnbc.msn
Transcript of the November 14, 2010 broadcast of NBC’s Meet the Press, featuring David Axelrod, John McCain, Alan Greenspan, Newt Gingrich, Harold Ford Jr. and Bethany McLean.
From westlegaledcenter.com
Under the guidance of a new Director, the SECs Enforcement Division has announced a variety of changes and new initiatives, including the use of cooperation agreements and deferred prosecution agreements, the creation of specialized subject-matter units, an increased focus on market intelligence, and a streamlining of internal procedures. Join litigators Arthur Greenspan, Harold Gordon and Joanna Hendon, all experienced private practitioners in the area of SEC investigations…
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