Unfortunately, the Federal Reserve hasn’t been a major talking point this election cycle. Indeed, there have been casual mentions once or twice during interviews and there were a couple of brief comments made by the presidential candidates during the recent debates (SEE: Is Ted Cruz stealing Rand Paul’s thunder on monetary policy?), but nothing concrete has been said.
Speaking at a news conference (via Reuters) on Monday, Florida Republican Senator and 2016 Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said he would get rid of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen if he were president. Rubio, who is gaining a ton of momentum in recent weeks, would accomplish this by not renominating her.
Rubio noted that the United States has become “Fed-obsessed.” In other words, the stock market relies too heavily on every single word uttered by Yellen and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).
“The Fed is no substitute for tax policies, regulatory policies, fiscal economic policies that create an environment that’s conducive to economic growth,” Rubio told reporters at a conference. “In fact the Fed oftentimes, by trying to compensate for bad fiscal policy, ends up making policies that dramatically alter the economy in very negative ways.”
He did not say who he would like to helm the Fed or where he stands on Fed policy altogether.
Rubio has previously talked about the Fed before. In 2012, Rubio wrote that the U.S. central bank’s only focus should be inflation.
“Sound monetary policy would also encourage middle class job creation. The arbitrary way in which interest rates and our currency are treated is yet another cause of unpredictability injected into our economy. The Federal Reserve Board should publish and follow a clear monetary rule — to provide greater stability about prices and what the value of a dollar will be over time.”
The Florida Senator is also a co-sponsor of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s “Audit the Fed” bill.
What Others Are Saying About the Fed
Although his insight into monetary policy is likely minute, it’s a lot better than what Ben Carson told Fox Business Network last week, in which he referred to Yellen as a “wonderful person.”
Donald Trump, meanwhile, has accused Yellen of suppressing interest rates to help the Democrats keep control of the White House (SEE: Donald Trump warns Federal Reserve rate hike will trigger a recession). Trump presented the case that raising rates would cause an economic downturn and that Yellen didn’t want President Obama leaving the White House in a recession.
“This is a political thing, keeping these interest rates at this level,” Trump said. “Janet Yellen for political reasons is keeping interest rates so low that the next guy or person who takes over as president could have a real problem.”
The latest polls show a statistical tie nationally between Trump and Carson. Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz are finally in double digits, but still trail Carson and Trump considerably. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is only at five percent.
–AM
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