On Jun 9, 2008, at 10:57 AM, Robert Wrubel wrote:
> This is a key premise in Rockwell's argument, the main attraction
> of the Fed for the banking system, but he skips right past it and
> goes on to some red herring about Roosevelt and fascism. Further
> it doesnt fit the facts, since the Fed historically is always
> fighting inflation, not encouraging it.
The Fed hasn't really foregrounded inflation-fighting since Volcker left in 1987. Since Greenspan, they've been busy engineering bubbles and bailouts. They're making noises about inflation now, but they're not going to do anything aggressive with unemployment rising and the economy still sinking. If you want an inflation-fighting central bank, look at the ECB, which is sounding like they're going to raise rates at their next meeting.
> In Rockwell's world there is the "state", paying for itself
> through inflation (this part of his argument makes sense to me) and
> then there are the "people", who are being screwed as they
> righteously try to save. The wealthy, the corporations, the
> financial world -- the ones who actually control the Fed -- are
> always left out of the libertarian view.
To be fair, an honest libertarian (and Rockwell is one, not like the WSJ edit page) would probably argue that the Fed is a form of corporate welfare, and the capitalists and financiers should take a hit, just like the rest of us.
Doug