The first thing that strikes us about the Federal Reserve’s new “Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy” is that the vote to approve it in the Open Market Committee was unanimous. The country may be down with its worst dose of divisiveness since practically the Civil War, and on almost every issue imaginable. Yet on the contentious issue of monetary strategy, the Fed turns out to be unanimous.
Which put us in mind of the Great Sanhedrin. That was the body of 71 sages of Jewish law. It sat at Jerusalem in the time of the Temple. It is recorded that the Great Sanhedrin refused to hand down a capital sentence if the rabbis were unanimous. Basically, it seems one thing the sages feared was the possibility that unanimity among the rabbis might indicate that the defense had been inadequate.
Read Full Article »