
 |
|
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Oct 28, 2005
/ 25 Tishrei, 5766
Faceless face at the Fed
By
Robert Robb
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
One of the most important tasks for new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, assuming
what should be an easy confirmation, will be to make his job less
important.
Bernanke seems well suited to do that, which is a compliment.
The primary economic contribution that a central bank can make is to
maintain a stable currency. Bernanke's predecessor, Alan Greenspan, has
certainly led the Federal Reserve Board in accomplishing that during his
18-year tenure.
But Greenspan also clearly saw a role for the central bank in fine-tuning
and regulating the overall economy, pressing the gas when the economy was
slowing, putting on the brakes when it was growing faster than Greenspan
thought prudent. Over the last six years, the Fed has changed the interest
rates it sets some 30 times.
Greenspan was also a high-profile kibitzer about fiscal policy and other
issues, such as Social Security reform. His public standing was so high
that both parties sought to use his often opaque pronouncements to advance
their positions.
Republicans stressed that Greenspan supported tax cuts and thought they
should be made permanent. Democrats stressed that he worried about deficits
and thought tax cuts should be offset. Neither party made much of
Greenspan's view that offsets should occur primarily if not exclusively
through reductions in federal spending, since neither party has the stomach
for doing it.
This broader role of the Fed chairman as an economic oracle and, in Bob
Woodward's highly unfortunate metaphor about Greenspan, maestro is
unwarranted and potentially dangerous.
The Fed can ruin the economy by creating inflation or depriving it of
liquidity in a downturn. But the tools available to the Fed are
insufficiently powerful or precise to be constantly fine-tuning economic
performance.
In reality, the interest rates the Fed sets only affect the cost of capital
at the margins. Long-term interest rates have remained remarkably
impervious to the Fed's six-year period of hyperactively seeking to
influence them. That's in part because the Fed has done its primary job of
maintaining price stability so well, since long-term interest rates are in
significant part a function of inflation expectations.
The Fed has more direct influence on the money supply and thus inflation.
But even here, there's a great deal of imprecision. It's hard to control
what is increasingly more difficult to define and measure.
Because of his public standing, Greenspan was able to get away with
drifting into fiscal policy and other issues. But it's a dangerous
undertaking for a central banker. Getting into the business of politicians
in other areas increases the risk of politicians trying to get into
monetary policy. And that, history proves, is a pathway to economic
disaster.
When President Bush appointed him, Bernanke was careful to say that he
sought "continuity" with Greenspan's policies and strategies. But there is
reason to believe that he will depart from Greenspan's approach in ways
that are useful and beneficial.
Bernanke is one of the foremost advocates of a central bank publicly
setting an inflation target. Greenspan resisted this because it would limit
flexibility. But that's actually one of its virtues.
A publicly set inflation target obviously puts price stability above other
economic goals, decreasing the temptation to attempt to fine-tune the
economy. Moreover, it more properly aligns public expectations with what a
central bank can and should do, which is to maintain a stable currency.
As Bernanke put it in a Wall Street Journal column he co-wrote in 2000:
"(T)he transparency of the inflation-targeting approach would encourage
politicians and the public to focus on what monetary policy can do (namely,
maintain long-run price stability), rather than on what it can't do (create
permanent increases in growth through expansionary policies)."
Bernanke has a calm view of the so-called twin deficits, the current
account deficit in trade and investment and the federal budget deficit. He
brought fresh insight into the current account deficit by arguing that it
was more a function of a worldwide savings glut finding safe harbor in the
United States than a reflection of fundamental flaws in the U.S. economy.
He's also more likely to stick to his knitting publicly than Greenspan was,
leaving fiscal policy and other issues to the politicians elected to tend
to them.
Achieving a stable currency is a remarkable and powerful economic
achievement. But done right, the doing of it should be practically
unnoticed.
If, in five years, Bernanke is as well known as Greenspan is today, it will
be more a sign of failure than of success.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Robert Robb is a columnist for The Arizona Republic. Comment by clicking here.
Robert Robb Archives
© 2005, The Arizona Republic
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Tony Blankley
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

Mr. Know-It-All
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|