The Hill News

Our economy is like a sick patient, languishing in the hospital. The patient is sick in part because of doctor (Federal Reserve) failure. And yet, we continue to depend on the doctor to treat the patient. The truth is that the doctor’s treatment options are limited and those options will not effectively heal the patient. The patient needs to be rushed to a different unit, with different doctors who will initiate a new treatment strategy, one that does not rely on the Fed for its economic salvation.
 
This seems to have finally been recognized in Washington, with members of both political parties pivoting to the issue of “jobs, jobs, jobs,” and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke admitting that “most of the economic policies that support robust growth in the long run are outside the province of the central bank.” And while we can debate the relative merits and demerits of President Barack Obama’s job plan, one thing is clear: It is incumbent on Congress and th! e President to restore the economy. But the current political logjam means that we may continue to depend on Fed action, even though it is increasingly apparent that the Fed is not as omnipotent and infallible as some previously thought.

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