Can the Federal Reserve Really Be "Independent"?

The Federal Reserve and its supporters constantly declare that the Fed is and should be “independent.” Whether it is or should be independent of the elected President of the United States is once again a hot issue—as it has been numerous times before in history. Whether the President can fire the Fed Chairman is now a particularly debated question. A more fundamental question is whether any agency of the federal government—including the central bank—can in our constitutional republic be an independent power subject only to itself. Read Full Article »