ARNOLD KLING
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The Top Political Contributors
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Gender and the New Commanding Heights
August 11, 2011
Jamie Galbraith Makes an Assumption
August 11, 2011
Macroeconometrics: The Science of Hubris
August 10, 2011
Real and Nominal Bond Yields
BRYAN CAPLAN
August 14, 2011
The Effect of Thumb Sucking on Income
August 12, 2011
The Voice of Cold, Hard Truth to All Would-Be Educators
August 12, 2011
Ability, Morality, and Prosperity: A Paper and a Report
August 11, 2011
The Theory of Time and Frittering
August 10, 2011
Male Variance and the Remnants of the Gender Gap
DAVID HENDERSON
August 9, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken", Part Two
August 8, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken"
August 5, 2011
James Bovard on the Peace Corps
August 4, 2011
Summers Way Off on FDR and 1941
August 3, 2011
The "Amazon" Tax
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One thing I've wondered about regarding this "audit" business is whether the Fed is currently audited somehow or other to a sufficient extent to prevent outright embezzlement. It moves around trillions of dollars. Can one be confident that a few hundred billion aren't diverted into someone's pocket?
I don't believe in an Independent Fed, assuming that it would actually be possible to have one. I follow the essay by Milton Friedman which I find to be unacceptable to most people:
"Should There Be An Independent Monetary Authority?"
However, just as in Supreme Court decisions, I no longer expect anything but a mishmash of decisions, some of which I like, and some of which I don't.
I feel the same about the Fed. Since I like what Bernanke has been doing since Lehman, and would rather not have Congress muck things up, I'm currently for an Independent Fed. Like Burke, I don't let theory get in the way of prudent politics.
What's missing from available information to make a "mark-to-market" balance sheet? I ask that honestly.
The Fed's operations are intensively audited in accordance with Section 11B of the Federal Reserve Act. A primary concern mentioned on AuditTheFed.com is the fact that policy decisions are not audited, although the FOMC minutes are available pursuant to FOIA. There are some specific pieces of information that haven't been made available to the public, but I still don't see how the Fed is "far from transparent", especially if compared to true government agencies. How many audits of the Department of Defense has failed to find the millions that go missing? And they have guns. Also note that AuditTheFed.com discusses inflation caused by the Fed as a major reason for this audit. Are they unjustified in doing so as well?
All in all, I think Paul's camp should be wary of the law of unintended consequences. If your true end goal is the abolition of the Fed, you may think that these audits would lead to it, but in reality you're letting Congress put its foot in the door. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that allowing more government control is a slippery slope. I'm not sure why you think this is a disingenuous objection, because no matter what you think the purpose of the audit is, the text of the H.R. 1207 makes no mention of any of the points given. It's vague. Dangerously vague.