Hassett Is Right That the Federal Reserve Shouldn't Be Black Box

All of that is correct and mirrors recommendations we have made here at Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives (CMFA). In fact, our own George Selgin has used the Wizard of Oz analogy in the past to describe the mystique around the Fed! Much like the fictional all-powerful Wizard, a peek behind the curtain shows the mundane nature of it all. The Fed’s importance is drastically overstated; it cannot even control interest rates, let alone the entire economy, and the tools at its disposal to exert economic influence are imperfect and indirect. No one should pretend otherwise. Read Full Article »