The One-Eyed King..from W. Grieder and the Nation

[stevebreeze]

An informative article on how the federal reserve has really worked for the last 25 years.

http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20050919&s=greider

When Alan Greenspan retires as Federal Reserve chairman early next year, we can expect waves of adulation for his extraordinary eighteen-year reign over the American economy. The financial press is already offering nostalgic retrospectives on the highlights: the crash of '87 and rapid rebound, the chairman's total victory over price inflation, his swift interventions to avoid financial panics and to reverse the stock market's massive meltdown of 2000-01. In tempestuous times, this Fed chairman acquired a godlike aura--the inscrutable wizard with a nerdish charisma, his wisdom cloaked in financial doubletalk. How will the nation get along without him?

A different assessment was expressed last winter by the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid. "I'm not a big Greenspan fan," the Nevada Democrat allowed. "I think he's one of the biggest political hacks we have in Washington." His harsh comment was politely overlooked in governing circles, like an off-color joke told at a Washington dinner party.

[bemildred]

1. The Fed itself is a political hack institution.

There is nothing special in the fact that it is run by appointed
political hacks. Was Volcker any less of a hack? Or those before
him? Now if it was an elected body accountable to the voters in
some direct way ...