The CATO Institute Finds That The Fed Must Be Abolished

[Magda Hassan]

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/13/2010 13:19 -0500

A must read paper from George Selgin and the Cato Institute, which confirms what Zero Hedge has been saying since inception: the Fed must be abolished immediately: "The Federal Reserve System has not lived up to its original promise. Early in its career, it presided over both the most severe inflation and the most severe (demand-induced) deflations in post-Civil War U.S. history. Since then, it has tended to err on the side of inflation, allowing the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar to deteriorate considerably. That deterioration has not been compensated for, to any substantial degree, by enhanced stability of real output... A genuine improvement did occur during the sub-period known as the "Great Moderation." But that improvement, besides having been temporary, appears to have been due mainly to factors other than improved monetary policy. Finally, the Fed cannot be credited with having reduced the frequency of banking panics or with having wielded its last-resort lending powers responsibly. Its record strongly suggests that the Federal Reserve‘s problems go well beyond those of having lacked good administrators. Although it has manifested itself in different ways during different decades, the Fed‘s failure has been chronic. The problems appear to reside with the institution, and not with particular personalities who have been placed in charge of it. Hence the record would not be likely to improve substantially even with complete turnover in the Board of Governors. The only real hope for a better monetary system lies in regime change."

“No major institution in the U.S. has so poor a record of performance over so long a period, yet so high a public reputation.” Milton Friedman (1988).

Ending the Fed is the only hope America now has. The outcome will be painful, but it will be surmountable. The alternative is the unquestionable end of America's status as a superpower.

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/f...gPaper.pdf