Sunday, March 4, 2012

Starting to 2nd guess the Fed

NYT's Gretchen Morgenstern issued the first salvo I have seen in the mainstream media in her column today.  She openly questions the wisdom of keeping rates at near zero levels, given that (a) this is significantly penalizing savers and (b) very few people qualify for the low interest rates, especially for mortgages.  Isn't the whole idea of low rates to stimulate borrowing?  Don't get me wrong; I'm not drinking the Ron Paul Kool-Aid about abolishing the Fed, but some serious questions about its interest rate policy need to be raised in this year's campaign.  I give Ben Bernanke very high marks for his moves in 2008 and 2009, but I have real concerns about the Fed's stated commitment to keep rates low for as much as another two years.   

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