Thursday, October 23, 2003

The Fed, Then and Now. Today, it is taken for granted that the Federal Reserve System's role is to manage the economy with the crook of monetary policy, as shepherds leading a flock to greener pastures. Therefore, Fed Governor Bernanke could state in a recent speech, "The ultimate objective of monetary policymakers is to promote the health of the U.S. economy, which we do by pursuing our mandated goals of price stability and maximum sustainable output and employment." He could expect no heckles and received none for beginning his speech with what he probably thought was self-evident wisdom. It was not always thus. The Federal Reserve of today would not be recognizable to its founders in 1913. The change is so dramatic it is worthy to briefly compare them. It also illustrates the sure way in which governmental bodies evolve to consolidate and expand their power through the years. [Ludwig von Mises Institute] 11:50:26 AM    comment () Listening to Mahathir. Somewhere in Pakistan Osama bin Laden must be enjoying this. The war on terror didn't have to be perceived as a war on Islam, but we seem to be doing our best to make it look that way. (link) Well said. [Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs] I think it did have to be perceived as a war on Islam, because for many of those in the government and their supporters it clearly is a war on Islam, and they're such bad liars that they could never have hidden their true motivations. 9:53:22 AM    comment ()

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