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The following is the text of an open letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signed by several economists, along with investors and political strategists, most of them close to Republicans:
We believe the Federal Reserveâ??s large-scale asset purchase plan (so-called â??quantitative easingâ?) should be reconsidered and discontinued. ?We do not believe such a plan is necessary or advisable under current circumstances. ?The planned asset purchases risk currency debasement and inflation, and we do not think they will achieve the Fedâ??s objective of promoting employment.
We subscribe to your statement in the Washington Post on November 4 that â??the Federal Reserve cannot solve all the economyâ??s problems on its own.â? ?In this case, we think improvements in tax, spending and regulatory policies must take precedence in a national growth program, not further monetary stimulus.
We disagree with the view that inflation needs to be pushed higher, and worry that another round of asset purchases, with interest rates still near zero over a year into the recovery, will distort financial markets and greatly complicate future Fed efforts to normalize monetary policy.
The Fedâ??s purchase program has also met broad opposition from other central banks and we share their concerns that quantitative easing by the Fed is neither warranted nor helpful in addressing either U.S. or global economic problems.
Cliff Asness AQR Capital
Michael J. Boskin Stanford University Former Chairman, President's Council of Economic Advisors (George H.W. Bush Administration)
Richard X. Bove Rochdale Securities
Charles W. Calomiris Columbia University Graduate School of Business
Jim Chanos Kynikos Associates
John F. Cogan Stanford University Former Associate Director, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (Reagan Administration)
Niall Ferguson Harvard University Author, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Nicole Gelinas Manhattan Institute & e21 Author, After the Fall: Saving Capitalism from Wall Streetâ??and Washington
James Grant Grantâ??s Interest Rate Observer
Kevin A. Hassett American Enterprise Institute Former Senior Economist, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
Roger Hertog The Hertog Foundation
Gregory Hess Claremont McKenna College
Douglas Holtz-Eakin Former Director, Congressional Budget Office
Seth Klarman Baupost Group
William Kristol Editor, The Weekly Standard
David Malpass GroPac Former Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary (Reagan Administration)
Ronald I. McKinnon Stanford University
Dan Senor Council on Foreign Relations Co-Author, Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israelâ??s Economic Miracle
Amity Shlaes Council on Foreign Relations Author, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
Paul E. Singer Elliott Associates
John B. Taylor Stanford University Former Undersecretary of Treasury for International Affairs (George W. Bush Administration)
Peter J. Wallison American Enterprise Institute Former Treasury and White House Counsel (Reagan Administration)
Geoffrey Wood Cass Business School at City University London
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