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Rahn: Wrong Tools for the Job

Richard Rahn, The Washington Times Assume you are a skilled heart surgeon and your patient needs a new heart valve, but you were given a spoon...

Richard Rahn, The Washington Times Assume you are a skilled heart surgeon and your patient needs a new heart valve, but you were given a spoon rather than a scalpel to cut open a chest. Relying on the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) to cure the lack of job growth is going to be no more effective than giving a heart surgeon a spoon. Central banks, such as the Fed and ECB, can cause major economic problems by printing too much or too little money. They do not cause fiscal problems — too much taxing and spending — nor can they cure them. Last week, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke came close to acknowledging what many already know — that the Fed can do little at this point: “To the fullest extent possible, federal tax and spending policies should increase incentives to work and save, encourage investments in workforce skills, stimulate private capital formation, promote research and development, and provide necessary public infrastructure,” he said. ECB Chairman Mario Draghi has basically said the same thing to the political leaders of the eurozone countries. Read More