@eppy99 being an expert isn't synonymous with getting things right. economists are wrong time and time again. probably self-inflated worth. probably what they do is hard and imprecise. experts should always be used but they aren't infallible.
Why economic forecasts are so often wrong - Haas News | Berkeley Haas
Top US economists are often wrong – should we trust their predictions? | US economy | The Guardian
Opinion | Why Some Economists Won’t Admit They Were Wrong - The New York Times
on and on
Im not weighing in on the fed issue. But the notion of PhD economists understanding our economy enough to manage or control it is questionable. They are guessing much of the time and have recorded some rather spectacular misses.Serious question. If the suggestion is we can’t trust a bunch of PhD economists then aren’t we just fu*cked? Sounds eerily familiar to not trusting medical science to do their jobs.
I’m admittedly not educated or informed enough to know what’s best for our economy but that’s usually when I would rely upon “so called experts.”
I dont think that makes them charlatans, though, because macroeconomics is not like classical mechanics in physics, for example (which by the way can’t even solve the three body problem).
@unclemark free market. Not sure what you're asking?
Free market in what? Stock market? Bond market? Currency market? Commodities market? Platitudes aren't going to be enough.
Trump campaign promises:
“The USA has the biggest economy ever in world history. Only I can fix that.”
“The USA has the biggest national debt ever in the history of the world. (Congress passed those wasteful spending bills and the Exec branch spent all that money, and) only I can drain that swamp. I’ll eliminate the Federal Reserve!”
@unclemark I don't want a centralized institution influencing and setting rates. I want all the participants in the market place setting them.
@unclemark I don't want a centralized institution influencing and setting rates. I want all the participants in the market place setting them.
The participants do set them.
For those asking what an audit even means, what it would look like, and who would do it.
https://mises.org/mises-wire/should-us-congress-audit-federal-reserve
AI Summary
Legislative Push for Transparency
Two bills—H.R. 24 in the House and S. 3566 (Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2024) in the Senate—seek a full audit of both the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the twelve regional Fed banks.
Oversight would be conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) under the Comptroller General.
After both chambers pass their versions, differences would be ironed out in a conference committee before it heads to the President.
Roots & Support
This effort continues long-standing calls for transparency dating back to Ron Paul’s campaigns and his 1975 proposal (HR 7590) to audit the Fed
Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Thomas Massie, and other Republicans are among the key sponsors, echoing decades-long libertarian pressure for oversight
Why Now?
Advocates argue that:
Transparency is overdue—despite decades of influence on monetary and financial stability, the Fed remains largely unexamined by GAO.
Recent controversial actions—including unprecedented emergency lending and quantitative easing—underscore the need for public vetting of internal decision-making.
Opposition & Debate
Though not covered in depth in this piece, past critiques have included:
Fear that an audit could politicize monetary policy, compromising the Fed’s essential independence. Similar concerns were voiced during earlier efforts such as the 2013 Federal Reserve Transparency Act
Bottom Line
The featured article spotlights a renewed bipartisan initiative (especially among Republicans) to empower the GAO to conduct a complete audit of the Fed’s activities, aiming to spotlight financial decisions and realign the institution with congressional oversight.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
@unclemark I don't want a centralized institution influencing and setting rates. I want all the participants in the market place setting them.
The participants do set them.
No, they don't. The Fed and the participants set them. I specifically added influence for you by the way 😉
@goat please tell us Oh Mighty One just exactly what the Fed does, other than jack with the interest rates? We’re all ears.
@unclemark I don't want a centralized institution influencing and setting rates. I want all the participants in the market place setting them.
The participants do set them.
No, they don't. The Fed and the participants set them. I specifically added influence for you by the way 😉
The only way to prevent the central bank from influencing rates is to not have a central bank at all.
@jdb What would the economy look like if the entire fed system simply disappeared?
@unclemark I don't want a centralized institution influencing and setting rates. I want all the participants in the market place setting them.
The participants do set them.
No, they don't. The Fed and the participants set them. I specifically added influence for you by the way 😉
The only way to prevent the central bank from influencing rates is to not have a central bank at all.
@jdb What would the economy look like if the entire fed system simply disappeared?
Off the top, you would have a more anti-fragile system, more banks, and less income inequality for starters. Ironically, centralization leads to a more fragile system, even though people will claim the opposite.
In 1907, the system crashed, and depression was on the table. The ultra-wealthy of the era poured money into banks to stabilize them.
The ultra-wealthy today, living up to their "greed is good" motto, would take positions to earn money when the system crashed, then work for the crash. Thus, plunging the non-investor class into a hellish depression.
The 1907 ultra-wealthy were CoH/Kirkian conservatives.In 1907, the system crashed, and depression was on the table. The ultra-wealthy of the era poured money into banks to stabilize them.
The ultra-wealthy today, living up to their "greed is good" motto, would take positions to earn money when the system crashed, then work for the crash. Thus, plunging the non-investor class into a hellish depression.
Iconically, the only such ultra-wealthy “conservatives” are more likely the ultra-wealthy liberals.
Trump claims the economy is booming now under him. If that's true, then there is no reason to cut rates(or taxes). That would be as equally stupid as his tax cuts in 2019.@unclemark and who's doing the audit? Trump's accountants? Same ones that had been counting when he bankrupted Casinos...which should be nearly impossible. I'm not saying the FED shouldn't be more aggressive lowering rates, maybe they should. But most of us on this board have no clue what they really do, and/or what they should be doing. And I suspect, neither does Trump.