Ron Paul is likely to get the monetary policy gavel !
Nothing is certain yet, but... if the House GOP continue to use their long-established rule of seniority determining who chairs various committees and subcommittees, then Ron Paul is set to Chair the House Financial Services Committee's subcommittee on Monetary Policy!
This is absolutely fantastic news for anyone who is concerned about Washington's penchant for powering up the printing presses.
Furthermore, I understand that subcommittee Chairs get the power of subpoena.
I just hope he gets the gavel. I'm confident that the Chief Proponent of Printing Presses, King Bernanke, will do whatever he can to stop Congressman Paul from getting the gavel though. Bernanke will pull out all the stops on this one. I wouldn't be surprised if he challenges the seniority system itself.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of the seniority system. I think the most qualified people should run committees, when possible. But that wouldn't make a difference with this committee. Ron Paul is the most qualified person to run the Monetary Policy subcommittee.
While one may disagree with his views, the reality is that he's the only member of the Gang of 535 who had any view on monetary policy before 2008, The Year of the Bailout.
And if he does get the gavel? I expect that with the power of the gavel, Ben Bernanke will have to actually engage in a philosophical debate with Ron Paul about monetary policy, including:
1) fiat money vs. sound money
2) Keynesians vs. Austrians
3) Should the Federal Reserve exist?
4) fractional-reserve banking vs. full-reserve banking
This is gonna be fun!
Tim White
2 comments:
King Bernanke, will do whatever he can to stop Congressman Paul from getting the gavel.
Bernanke has no power to do that. I was against him at the beginning, but now believe that he has done a terrific job. If he had not been there, we could have gone into a world depression and we would probably still have been there now.
I wouldn't call a doctor to wire my house, so why would I have one fix the financial system.
I hope your wrong about him being appointed to the chairmanship.
I'm not sure who has the power to name a Chair. I presume it's either the Speaker of the House of the members of a committee... who are presumably chosen by the Speaker.
Either way, capitol hill falls within Bernanke's sphere of influence. I'm confident his voice will be heard when Congressman Paul's name is discussed by whomever chooses the Chair.
With regard to your analogy regarding a medical doctor, but if someone incorrectly wired your house the first time... and created a complete mess... would you bother calling them to fix it? I wouldn't. I get someone new and effectively fire the original guy by not paying the bill.
Regardless, as I said in 2008 it's Pain Now or Pain Later. Bernanke is simply trying to delay the pain and hide it by inflating the dollar and monetizing America's debt.
Ultimately though, it's Bernanke choosing the winners (borrowers) and losers (savers) in the economy... just like Paulson decided his old competition (Lehman) would lose and his cronies (Goldman Sachs) would win in Sept 2008.
There are problems associated with virtually any decision that is made. But Austrian School economics is far more fair than Keynesianism. Keynesianism hurts the poor the hardest and is also based largely on the theory that America can consume indefinitely... while China will continue to produce indefinitely and everyone will remain happy.
That's absurd. It defies human nature. And the model is currently failing.
Look no further than all the countries that have chastised Bernanke for "QE2" (Quantitative Easing 2).
In the not-so-distant future, the US dollar will have competition. Someone will force the US$ to lose its status as the reserve currency of the world. Perhaps it will be a basket of currencies. Or maybe a private investor group will create something. The opportunity is ripe as people are disillusioned with the US$... and everyone knows that Bernanke is creating money out of thin air.
At minimum, I'm thrilled that RP will likely get the chance to force a philosophical debate on monetary policy for the first time in 100 years.
Elections are about The Debate of Ideas. RP will force that long-overdue debate to occur.
Post a Comment