Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Federal Reserve

There have been a lot of voices lately calling for an audit of Federal Reserve. 

I can't for the life of me understand why such would not be a matter of course unless there is something to hide.  All responsible organizations have audits to ensure that the people managing the books remain on the up and up.  All branches of government should be audited as a part of doing business.  Citizen oversight at its best.

But it will be argued that the information in such an audit would be too hard for the general public to understand and could cause too much trouble to explain, etc.  Well, I say do it any way.  We need the education.

For those who don't know, this is what the Fed is:

According to the Board of Governors, the Federal Reserve is independent within government in that "its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government." However, its authority is derived from the U.S. Congress and is subject to congressional oversight. Additionally, the members of the Board of Governors, including its chairman and vice-chairman, are chosen by the President and confirmed by Congress. The government also exercises some control over the Federal Reserve by appointing and setting the salaries of the system's highest-level employees. Thus the Federal Reserve has both private and public aspects.[12][13][14][15]