House Republicans pressed the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, on Wednesday to forswear additional actions to stimulate growth...
“The truth is, the Federal Reserve cannot rescue Americans from the consequences of failed economic and regulatory policies” the committee chairman, Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, said in his opening statement.
Other Republicans cautioned that an expansion of the Fed’s existing efforts could deepen the nation’s financial challenges by postponing a necessary reckoning and eventually accelerating the pace of inflation.
--NYT, 18 July 2012
The House GOP appears to have taken the position that (1) further monetary expansion won’t work; and (2) that while further monetary expansion might work, it shouldn’t be employed because it would postpone a “necessary reckoning”. In other words, weak growth and high unemployment are good because Americans need to be punished for Obama’s failed policies.
One suspects that the GOP is afraid that monetary expansion would spur growth and help the Democrats on election day. That would be logical and understandable, since unemployment hurts Obama. I can accept short-term disingenuous politics. What I can’t accept is that the Republican House really believes that la day of economic reckoning is a desirable thing.
My concern is not that the Republicans will prevent the Fed from pursuing growth policies before the election; I want the Democrats to lose just as much as they do. My concern is that they are stupid enough to pursue hard money policies even after they get control of the government. I want limited government and prosperity. I don’t want another Hoover administration that would set back the cause of liberty for another eighty years.
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What the hard-money Republicans don’t understand is that their hard-hearted monetary policies result in soft-hearted liberal policies that only compound the economic damage. The 2008 Bush recession gave us ObamaCare; God knows what disaster the 2013 Romney recession will give us.
It is remarkable that hard money wrecked the Republican party in 1930-33, and now, eighty years later, this same virus again infects the party and threatens prosperity. Williams Jennings Bryan must be looking down with a big smile on his face up in Free Silver heaven.
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House Republicans pressed the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, on Wednesday to forswear additional actions to stimulate growth...
“The truth is, the Federal Reserve cannot rescue Americans from the consequences of failed economic and regulatory policies” the committee chairman, Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, said in his opening statement.
Other Republicans cautioned that an expansion of the Fed’s existing efforts could deepen the nation’s financial challenges by postponing a necessary reckoning and eventually accelerating the pace of inflation.
--NYT, 18 July 2012
The House GOP appears to have taken the position that (1) further monetary expansion won’t work; and (2) that while further monetary expansion might work, it shouldn’t be employed because it would postpone a “necessary reckoning”. In other words, weak growth and high unemployment are good because Americans need to be punished for Obama’s failed policies.
One suspects that the GOP is afraid that monetary expansion would spur growth and help the Democrats on election day. That would be logical and understandable, since unemployment hurts Obama. I can accept short-term disingenuous politics. What I can’t accept is that the Republican House really believes that la day of economic reckoning is a desirable thing.
My concern is not that the Republicans will prevent the Fed from pursuing growth policies before the election; I want the Democrats to lose just as much as they do. My concern is that they are stupid enough to pursue hard money policies even after they get control of the government. I want limited government and prosperity. I don’t want another Hoover administration that would set back the cause of liberty for another eighty years.
Subscribe to PS Digital
Access every new PS commentary, our entire On Point suite of subscriber-exclusive content – including Longer Reads, Insider Interviews, Big Picture/Big Question, and Say More – and the full PS archive.
Subscribe Now
What the hard-money Republicans don’t understand is that their hard-hearted monetary policies result in soft-hearted liberal policies that only compound the economic damage. The 2008 Bush recession gave us ObamaCare; God knows what disaster the 2013 Romney recession will give us.
It is remarkable that hard money wrecked the Republican party in 1930-33, and now, eighty years later, this same virus again infects the party and threatens prosperity. Williams Jennings Bryan must be looking down with a big smile on his face up in Free Silver heaven.