|Peter Boettke|
Here is hoping Santa rewards George with his wish list in 2015.
Dear Santa,
I've been a good boy this year, as usual. But this time, For Christmas, instead of more toys or other stuff, I'd like you to see about doing any or all of the following:
1. Make the Fed follow a monetary rule. Any rule beats almost unlimited discretion, which is what we've got now, though a nominal spending growth rule would be best.
2. Send the FOMC packing. It's simple: if you have a rule, you don't need them. All they can do is muck it up. Replace the FOMC with a computer that determines the open-market operations needed to implement the rule. Better still, develop a tamper-proof Bitcoin-style ("Bitdollar") protocol that implements the rule automatically.
3. Abolish the Primary Dealer system: we don't need it any more than any other country does. Getting rid of primary dealers will also make it easier to
4. End Too Big To Fail, which will in turn make it easier to
5. End Fed discount-window lending, or at least "expansive" discount window lending.
6. Consider making sure, while you're at it--and lest the Fed try more funny business--to close the "emergency lending" loophole.
7. Since the Fed has no no reason to keep an eye on banks that can't count on bailouts from it (and can't be counted on to keep an eye on them even when it does have a reason to do so), how's about getting it out of the bank supervision business altogether?
8. Since these are all pretty tall orders, even for a fat fellow who manages somehow to clamber through who knows how many billions of chimneys in a single night, while you work on them perhaps you could get Congress to pass the Centennial Monetary Commission Act, so we can at least get them to start talking about these and other ideas for fixing the Fed.
9. And finally, a real easy one for you: how's about sticking it to those zinc lobby liars by finally getting rid of all those stupid pennies?
10. Oh wait, I almost forgot my most important wish of all, which is that you please see to it that all my pals, and all readers of this blog (including those who don't care a whit for me or my ideas) have a very merry-christmas.
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