Is auditing the Fed really the elephant in the room?

and they are controlled by the 12 member banks correct?

 

They do audit the Fed privately.

What do you think the market would do to the equity of banks who are seen borrowing from the discount window? Sensitive economic information such as this can and will be used for speculative arbitrage.

 

The Fed is probably the most heavily audited entity in the world.

Here is a link to a thread quoting GAO excerpts from a recent report detailing how the Fed is audited by two Big 4 public accounting firms, the GAO, the OIG, as well as its own internal accounting staffs:

http://www.politicalforum.com/unite...e-audit-fed-operations-emergency-actions.html

 

There are thousands of member banks.

But no. Money policies decisions are made by the Fed Board and Open Market Committee, both of which are dominated by members selected by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

 

Well...yes and no.

5 of the 12 on the Open Market Committee are not appointed/confirmed by the POTUS/Congress.

And those on the Fed Board serve for 14 years!?!

And right now, of the 7 possible seats on the Federal reserve Board...2 are vacant.

And since two of the 5 will be 69+ when their present term expires, this will obviously be their last one.
So these members have no reason to fear/care what POTUS/Congress thinks in terms of being re-nominated.


So that's 5 approved by Congress...and 5 not.

Plus, all 12 Federal Reserve Bank Presidents attend the meetings and contribute to the discussions - so that means (at the present) 12 of the 17 people with a voice at the meetings are not appointed/approved by POTUS/Congress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Open_Market_Committee

 

why do you believe that a mostly autonomous organ of the executive branch of our federal government, would not faithfully execute those laws which are necessary and proper to promote and provide for the general welfare of the Union.

 

Is this a trick question?

Because they are human beings. And human beings have greed. And bankers (who all of these people are) have been known to have TONS of the stuff.

Do you honestly think that they will not make policies that benefit both themselves personally and their industry (where all their buddies are) in particular?

 

Consistent with my post, your post confirms that the FOMC and Board are dominated by members appointed by the President and confirmed by Congress. The vacancies are a temporary condition.

The fact that members have long term positions and thus are largely independent of the political process is by design.

 

Why would those issues not apply even more directly to members of the Govt run for re-election ever 2-6 years and have to raise campaign funds?

 

So 50% is 'dominated' to you?

Interesting.



And for the record, 3 of those 5 were appointed under the Bush Administration.

 

7 / 12.

And?

 

So we agree they are all corrupt?

Great!

 

So we agree that elected representatives in the Govt are more susceptible to corruption?

Great!

 

Today...it's 5 of 10.

And no one has even been appointed by Obama to fill those vacancies (to my knowledge)...so it's going to be 5 of 10 for some time to come...

...just when America 'needs' it's FED 'more then ever' (of course, I don't think that).

It was a statement, not a question.

 

Per Wiki:

Board of Governors
The seven-member Board of Governors is a federal agency. It is charged with the overseeing of the 12 District Reserve Banks and setting national monetary policy. It also supervises and regulates the U.S. banking system in general.

Federal Open Market Committee
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) consists of 12 members, seven from the Board of Governors and 5 of the regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents. The FOMC oversees open market operations, the principal tool of national monetary policy. These operations affect the amount of Federal Reserve balances available to depository institutions, thereby influencing overall monetary and credit conditions. The FOMC also directs operations undertaken by the Federal Reserve in foreign exchange markets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System#Federal_Open_Market_Committee

I sounds from the article that the Board decides major monetary policy while the FOMC determines policy to implement it, but I am not exactly sure how they operate regard determining monetary policy.

 

Republicans have bogged down federal appoinments in many different areas of government.

 

Nope.

So you believe that someone that has to be re-elected every 2-6 years is less likely to be accountable to the electorate then someone that NEVER has to be re-elected and answers to NO ONE for 14 years?!?

Yes or no, please?

 

I am not exactly sure either.

But according to Wikipedia:

'The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), a committee within the Federal Reserve System, is charged under United States law with overseeing the nation's open market operations (i.e., the Fed's buying and selling of United States Treasury securities). It is the Federal Reserve committee that makes key decisions about interest rates and the growth of the United States money supply. It is the principal organ of United States national monetary policy.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Open_Market_Committee

 

I didn't agree with your mischaracterization either.

no

 

Touche.

Fair enough.

 

I am not sure I understand the dilemma you present; only our federal Congress can enact laws concerning fiscal policy, and any monetary policy that results thereof must be faithfully executed by the federal government.

 

take an economics class

 

I am in canada remember? And probably better educated than you

 

there's no way

 

For the record, my answer is 'NO'.

When you remove accountability, you allow people to do whatever they wish - often for selfish ends.

This notion that too many people have that the FED is run by selfless people who think only of America is incredibly naive.

These are not Ghandi's and Dalai Lama's (sp?).
They are bankers with (for the most part) gigantic egos who live in Ivory towers and wouldn't understand the problems of the masses if they're lives depended on it.
They love power, they love exercising it and they love doing favors forctheir banker buddies.
And they are bean counters who obviously have staggeringly little knowledge on how an economy should be run.

And they have virtually no personal accountability.

The Fed is a stupid, STUPID institution...at least how it is set-up right now.