Arthur Laffer, the famed economist who developed the Laffer Curve and was the recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is targeting the Federal Reserve and echoing President Donald Trump’s remarks.
Speaking with John Catsimatidis in an interview that aired Sunday on AM 970 New York (via MarketWatch), Laffer revealed that he does not – get this – think the Fed should be independent.
He told the interviewer:
“The Fed shouldn’t be independent of the administration. Never should be. None of those people were elected. They were appointed. And there’s no reason for them being appointed. It’s a policy tool that should be in the hands of the Congress and the President to make our country better.”
Laffer added:
“Not in the hands of some Princeton professors who never worked a day in their lives except on an academic paper that’s far from reality. I don’t think there should be an independent Fed.”
First of all, can you imagine a Congress handling interest rates, the money supply, and the potential to create trillions of dollars out of thin air? It would be chaos. Republicans and Democrats would use the printing press to their advantage. The GOP would use it to enhance the drug war and bomb foreign nations. The Democrats would use it to give every woman (and man, right Juan Castro?) an abortion and hand out free money.
Imagine AOC with access to the printing machine? That would be a disaster.
Second, the Fed isn’t even an independent institution (SEE: Donald Trump is right – Federal Reserve is a political tool to help the White House). The central bank coordinates with the White House and raises or cuts rates and expands or contracts the money supply based on the president.
By the way, did Laffer ever pay Peter Schiff that penny?
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