Thursday, March 27, 2008

Grant & The Fed

Isn't it weird that we don't have a vote for the Federal Reserve? I mean, they can bail out huge banks, spend $30B worth of money on guaranteeing really bad debt, that will eventually be paid for by taxpayers, and yet we have absolutely no say in the makeup of the Fed. Doesn't seem right to me.

If I had a vote for the Fed Chairman, I would vote for Jim Grant. Here's an interview with him where he calls the recent bailout, an "Economist's Nightmare." He also brings up a good point, the Fed is highly leveraged. The NY Fed has very little equity (Jim says $10B) and has taken on a lot of debt. Not a lot of margin of error there. They have taken on a lot of risk, and if they have to write down the value of the bonds, that equity could be wiped out quickly.

My favorite line, "the people who are paying for all this are the Savers...the Saver's have taken a pay cut, as the Fed Fund's rate has been cut, to accommodate Speculators."

Jim Grant nails it.