Federal Reserve Transparency - Audit the Fed

[Guest Human]

Many of the Goldman Sach folks are working for obama, cut your garbage.

 

The democrats CAN'T SPEND their way out of this, or haven't you figured that one out yet?

Blaming the republicans for this crisis aint going to work. Fannie, Freddie, and a whole lot more has lead to all of this.

 

The democrats have gotten a free ride on this, and much more. What still holds true is what is true.

 

The Fed is Controlled by the democrats in every aspect. The democrats have used Racism as a political weapon, and take a good hard look as to where that has lead us.

 

Auditing the fed is a great idea. It keeps both sides in check.

[Guest LAW]

"… nearly two years after the collapse of Bear Stearns, we still have not updated the laws governing our financial sector, leaving our fragile economy with the same vulnerabilities that led to the economic crisis in the first place," Dodd warned.

 

"I think we are at a critical juncture at this hour. As my colleagues know, I laid out a discussion draft in November, and members of this committee have been working together, across the aisle, to come up with a compromise - if we can - ever since. …And now we are getting to the point where we need to pull the trigger, because hard working American families can’t wait much longer for a return to economic security.”

 

"The people not in this room today want to know whether or not we get it and you get it…" Dodd said. "But the refusal of large financial firms to work constructively with Congress on this effort borders on insulting to the American people who have lost so much in this crisis. And, from where I’m sitting, it looks like instead of investing in improvements that would secure their financial strength, too many people in the industry have decided to invest in an army of lobbyists whose only mission is to kill the common sense financial reforms we have been working so hard to achieve.”

 

"I’ve heard all the arguments for business as usual. But the American people have been through too much, unemployment is still too high, and the economy remains too vulnerable to support the status quo,” Dodd concluded. “That is unacceptable. We need to move forward."

[Guest ALWAYS RED]

Dodd is the one that is going to kill this:

 

You like videos. Watch This:

 

 

Read This:

 

Sections 23A & 23B Federal Reserve Act

 

Regulation W became effective April 1, 2003. Sections 23A and 23B and Regulation W limit the risks to a bank from transactions between the bank and its affiliates. Section 23A applies specifically to member banks; however, Section 18(j) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act extends the provisions of Section 23A to nonmember insured banks. Management is urged to become familiar with the provisions and collateral restrictions of this statute. Certain intercompany transactions may occur which can be construed as unsecured lending by the bank subsidiary to an affiliate and can be cited as a violation during a commercial examination of the bank subsidiary. The following types of transactions are not permitted:

 

* Parent company’s overdrawn checking account with bank subsidiary

 

* Payment of organization costs by bank subsidiary

 

* Overpayment of income taxes to the parent company

 

* Any payments by the bank subsidiary which represent expenses of the parent company (e.g., franchise taxes)

 

A bank and its subsidiaries may engage in transactions covered by Section 23B of the Federal Reserve Act only on terms and under circumstances, including credit standards, that are substantially the same, or at least as favorable to the bank or its subsidiaries, as in transactions with non-affiliates. A bank or its subsidiary cannot purchase as fiduciary any securities or other assets from any affiliate unless the purchase is permitted:

 

* under the instrument creating the fiduciary relationship

 

* by court order

 

* by law of jurisdiction

 

A bank or its subsidiaries cannot knowingly purchase or acquire any security during existence of an underwriting or selling syndicate, if an affiliate of the bank is a principal underwriter, unless the purchase has been approved before the sale to the public by a majority of outside directors.

 

It may be a violation of Sections 23A and 23B for a profitable bank subsidiary to transfer an earning asset to a bank holding company resulting in an adverse effect on the bank. Transfer of low-quality loans or other assets from an affiliate to a bank subsidiary is prohibited.

 

A policy designed to address appropriate intercompany and affiliate transactions should include the following:

 

* Criteria for identifying the existence of affiliates

 

* Types and volume of approved transactions

 

* Collateral and margin requirements

 

* Supporting documentation requirements

 

* Organizational approvals

 

* Methodology for determining and charging fees for services

 

* Factors for determining when price quotations from third parties are required

 

* Factors for determining when appraisals or fairness opinions must be obtained

 

* Audit/Compliance review frequency

 

Refer to http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/SRLETTERS/2003/sr0302.htm

 

Connecticut will another state that turns Red soon.

[Guest JH Cnina]

America should introduce a death penalty for economic treason, any act, intentional or unintentional, that risks the collapse of the American economy.

 

That NO ONE is going to jail for the collapse of the American and World economy is the greatest crime in history.

[Guest Duh No Brainer]

If you think our problems are cause of the President who walked into a house on fire and is given a water gun to put it out, then you should take a good look at HOW we got here...instead of where we are.

[Guest Human]

"Law" It would be helpfull if you would post the link.

 

http://dodd.senate.gov/?q=node/5456/print

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"… nearly two years after the collapse of Bear Stearns, we still have not updated the laws governing our financial sector, leaving our fragile economy with the same vulnerabilities that led to the economic crisis in the first place," Dodd warned.

 

"I think we are at a critical juncture at this hour. As my colleagues know, I laid out a discussion draft in November, and members of this committee have been working together, across the aisle, to come up with a compromise - if we can - ever since. …And now we are getting to the point where we need to pull the trigger, because hard working American families can’t wait much longer for a return to economic security.”

 

"The people not in this room today want to know whether or not we get it and you get it…" Dodd said. "But the refusal of large financial firms to work constructively with Congress on this effort borders on insulting to the American people who have lost so much in this crisis. And, from where I’m sitting, it looks like instead of investing in improvements that would secure their financial strength, too many people in the industry have decided to invest in an army of lobbyists whose only mission is to kill the common sense financial reforms we have been working so hard to achieve.”

 

"I’ve heard all the arguments for business as usual. But the American people have been through too much, unemployment is still too high, and the economy remains too vulnerable to support the status quo,” Dodd concluded. “That is unacceptable. We need to move forward."

[BlingBling]

Many of the Goldman Sach folks are working for obama, cut your garbage.

 

The democrats CAN'T SPEND their way out of this, or haven't you figured that one out yet?

Blaming the republicans for this crisis aint going to work. Fannie, Freddie, and a whole lot more has lead to all of this.

 

The democrats have gotten a free ride on this, and much more. What still holds true is what is true.

 

The Fed is Controlled by the democrats in every aspect. The democrats have used Racism as a political weapon, and take a good hard look as to where that has lead us.

 

Auditing the fed is a great idea. It keeps both sides in check.

 

Hello Human,

I miss reading your one liner retorts. But, I am back to remedy that.

 

So typical that you blame those that are trying to fix your mistakes? Year 2000 we had a 200 BILLION DOLLARS IN SURPLUS. Year 2008 we had a 11 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT. What happened? Please explain.

 

When your REPUBLICAN side had the majority and president for almost all of the 8 years. What happened? Please explain.

 

When your party did not veto or block one spending bill during this time. What happened? Please explain.

 

Your party threatened to remove the filibuster, now its your Republican party's main tool. What happened? Please explain.

 

Your party hit the pundit circuit all last year when they should have actually been at Committee meetings. What happened? Please explain.

 

BTW, I thought Ben Bernanke was appointed by President Bush. What happened? Please explain.

 

Who are you trying to kid here. I do not believe you want a full audit of the Federal Reserve? I saw your boy Sen. Gregg standing hand in hand with Sen. Dodd applauding Ben Bernanke's nomination and blocking the audit. You and I both know that bankers will back the person who gives them the best return for their money. It is that simple.

 

We need to sweep the BS out of the kitchen and move forward. We need to install the Volker Rule and use the Bipartisan Commission to get real reform done. That is coming from a real DEMOCRAT AND PROUD OF IT. The fault I give the Obama administration is getting lured into the REPUBLICAN siren call.

 

ADMIN WHERE IS MY AVATAR PHOTO? IT IS GONE!!!

[Guest Tea Party Patriot]

FYI... There are many Republicans that were not for Bush. They bought into the Obama Change dream and voted him in. There are many Republicans that are against the current practices of the Federal Reserve. The catalyst of the AUDIT THE FED movement is Congressman Ron Paul. He has been fighting corruption for the American People for over two decades.

 

Hello Human,

I miss reading your one liner retorts. But, I am back to remedy that.

 

So typical that you blame those that are trying to fix your mistakes? Year 2000 we had a 200 BILLION DOLLARS IN SURPLUS. Year 2008 we had a 11 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT. What happened? Please explain.

 

When your REPUBLICAN side had the majority and president for almost all of the 8 years. What happened? Please explain.

 

When your party did not veto or block one spending bill during this time. What happened? Please explain.

 

Your party threatened to remove the filibuster, now its your Republican party's main tool. What happened? Please explain.

 

Your party hit the pundit circuit all last year when they should have actually been at Committee meetings. What happened? Please explain.

 

BTW, I thought Ben Bernanke was appointed by President Bush. What happened? Please explain.

 

Who are you trying to kid here. I do not believe you want a full audit of the Federal Reserve? I saw your boy Sen. Gregg standing hand in hand with Sen. Dodd applauding Ben Bernanke's nomination and blocking the audit. You and I both know that bankers will back the person who gives them the best return for their money. It is that simple.

 

We need to sweep the BS out of the kitchen and move forward. We need to install the Volker Rule and use the Bipartisan Commission to get real reform done. That is coming from a real DEMOCRAT AND PROUD OF IT. The fault I give the Obama administration is getting lured into the REPUBLICAN siren call.

 

ADMIN WHERE IS MY AVATAR PHOTO? IT IS GONE!!!

[Guest 420]

The public is aware of all the lies both parties keep trying to tell us. How can they say with a straight face who is aligned with Wall Street when in fact they both had a super-majority in Congress and failed to reign in on Wall Street. Lies, lies, lies. Stop it, you only make fools of yourself.

[Guest Mike]

Ron Paul is my most recent messiah.

[Guest Tea Party Patriot]

It looks like there is more market manipulation:

 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/77f1be18-147f-11df-9ea1-00144feab49a.html

 

Thursday and Friday’s sharp declines in stock prices had been primarily driven by the eurozone woes causing a flight to the dollar. This led to a drop in the price of many riskier assets. Commodities were hit by a triple whammy: the higher dollar hurt buck-denominated resources; worries were heightened about the effect a euro implosion would have on global growth; and talk swirled that there was a rush out of dollar carry trades, where the greenback is used as a cheap funding currency for more speculative items.

 

The latter reasoning also affected equities. But here the bulls had some hope. When Wall Street on Friday slumped to a 1.8 per cent loss, things were again looking grim. But it eventually closed with a 0.3 per cent gain, with many traders pointing to the market eventually taking solace from the gradual improvement in US jobs data.

Some commentators were very surprised by the late bounce. “Is it just me or did anyone else smell a rat as the US equity market staged an incredible turnaround in the last 55 minutes of trading on Friday night,” said Maurice Pomery at Strategic Alpha Limited. “Market manipulation in the US equity market? You may say that but I couldn’t possibly comment!”

 

The rebound appeared to provide a circuit breaker to the funk. However, the S&P 500 was later down 0.9 per cent at 1,057, with financial stocks leading the declines in late trading.

[Guest LBX]

This bill got no love.

 

Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009 - Repeals the authority of the Comptroller General to carry out an onsite examination of an open insured bank or bank holding company only if the appropriate federal regulatory agency has consented in writing. (Retains the authority of the Comptroller General to audit a federal agency.) Directs the Comptroller General to complete, before the end of 2010, an audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and of the federal reserve banks, followed by a detailed report to Congress.

[Guest Christ Has Risen]

Why was the Federal Reserve called a "Temple"? Why is our Central Bank called "The Fed"? It seems to me that these sinful money changers want to brand names associated with God's House or part of our Government. It is an evil deception.

 

John - Chapter 2

 

13 When the time of the Jewish Passover was near Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

 

14 and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there.

 

15 Making a whip out of cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, sheep and cattle as well, scattered the money changers' coins, knocked their tables over

 

16 and said to the dove sellers, 'Take all this out of here and stop using my Father's house as a market.'

[Guest Pinchas Landau]

The banks are so critical to the functioning of the overall economy, they must, and always will, have explicit or implicit government support. That’s why the casino departments have to be expunged from the banks, along with the croupiers, professional gamblers and the rest. Let ’em roll the bones somewhere else, using their own money and not that of the unsuspecting general public.

[Guest PhilipTaylor]

Next week WS Banksters may decide to TANK MARKETS to F1GHT REFORM using high frequency trading algorithms to short or manipulate the Market DOWN! Like a Child holding its breath or a teenager playing CH1CKEN with family car!

 

If they have to they will CRASH the market to PREVENT REGULATIONS!

 

They dropped it 600 points to get BERNANKE Re-Confirmed!

 

G0LDMAN=P1ONEER in PhD Developed High frequency Trading=70% of ALL NYSE Trading (IVY LEAGUE CLUB AGAIN)

 

Normal Trading = A Specialist SETS trade Price satisfying Buyer &Seller or if many sellers and not enough buyers they lower Price.

 

High Frequency Trading by G0LDMAN = Market Maker (G0LDMAN) actually Buys &Sells while setting Prices!

 

Goldman electronically floods the specialist with thousands of trades disrupting and commandeering the market to SIPHON-0FF cash to themselves from NYSE while manipulating prices!

 

G0LDMAN or G0DMAN Theft @NANOSECOND SPEEDS -- AUTOMATED THEFT!

 

Ask G0LDMAN about their PhD developed THEFT SOFTWARE:

 

1. Automatic Nanosecond Intercepts other trades and insert G0LDMAN Trade ahead to get Bounce!

 

2. Automatic Market Manipulation - 01L, Commodities, Stock, Derivative, Options, you name it!

 

SCAM 1:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2009/07/matthew-goldstein-at-reuters-has-broken-a-story-about-a-potential-major-security-breach-involving-goldman-sachs-vaunted-tradi.html

 

SCAM 2:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=am7Ds.JhNxvw

 

G0LDMAN feeds off Data Centers in Jersey...making a mint.

[Guest Fedup]

Some theorists believe this executive order was the cause of President Kennedy's assassination.

 

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Executive Order No. 10289 of September 19, 1951, as amended, is hereby further amended --

 

( a ) By adding at the end of paragraph 1 thereof the following subparagraph ( j ):

 

"( j )The authority vested in the President by paragraph ( b ) of section 43 ofthe Act of May 12, 1933, as amended (31 U.S.C. 821 ( b )), to issuesilver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standardsilver dollars in the Treasury not then held for redemption of anyoutstanding silver certificates, to prescribe the denominations of suchsilver certificates, and to coin standard silver dollars and subsidiarysilver currency for their redemption," and

 

( b ) By revoking subparagraphs ( b ) and ( c ) of paragraph 2 thereof.

 

SEC.2. The amendment made by this Order shall not affect any act done, orany right accruing or accrued or any suit or proceeding had orcommenced in any civil or criminal cause prior to the date of thisOrder but all such liabilities shall continue and may be enforced as ifsaid amendments had not been made.

 

JOHN F. KENNEDY

THE WHITE HOUSE,

June 4, 1963

 

 

[Guest Cedric X]

According to information from the Library of the Comptroller of the Currency, Executive Order 11,110 remains in effect today, although successive administrations beginning with that of President Lyndon Johnson apparently have simply ignored it and instead returned to the practice of paying interest on Federal Reserve notes. Today we continue to use Federal Reserve Notes, and the deficit is at an all-time high.

[Guest x]

Why was the Federal Reserve called a "Temple"? Why is our Central Bank called "The Fed"? It seems to me that these sinful money changers want to brand names associated with God's House or part of our Government. It is an evil deception.

 

John - Chapter 2

 

13 When the time of the Jewish Passover was near Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

 

14 and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there.

 

15 Making a whip out of cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, sheep and cattle as well, scattered the money changers' coins, knocked their tables over

 

16 and said to the dove sellers, 'Take all this out of here and stop using my Father's house as a market.'

 

The Federal Reserve System, is a name carefully selected and designed to deceive. "Federal" would lead one to believe that this is a government organization. "Reserve" would lead one to believe that the currency is being backed by gold and silver. "System" was used in lieu of the word "bank" so that one would not conclude that a new central bank had been created.

[Guest Fedup]

Here is a letter that you can send to your Congressman/Congresswoman. To get the email address and/or mailing address of your Congressman/Congresswoman, go to:

 

http://www.Congress.org

 

**********************************************************************

 

Dear Congressman,

 

Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution specifically says that Congress is the only body that can "coin money and regulate the value thereof." The US Constitution has never been amended to allow anyone other than Congress to coin and regulate currency.

 

In light of that information, how it is possible for the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, and the Federal Reserve Bank that it created, to be constitutional. Why is this private banking cartel allowed to reap trillions of dollars in profits without paying taxes. I feel very strongly that most of Congress do not really understand what has happened here. Please respond to this. I would very much appreciate your answer.

 

Thomas Jefferson said, "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currencies, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their prosperity until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

 

Jefferson saw it coming 150 years ago. The question is, "Can you now see what is in store for us if we allow the FED to continue controlling our country?"

 

Please do the right thing for our country and AUDIT the FED.

 

Sincerely,

 

[Your Name]

[Guest cpapastr]

We may have believed the current administration when they spoke words of concern over the plight of small businesses during the economic recession. Trying to force health care costs on small business, creating proposals to eliminate LIFO accounting and oil and gas drilling incentives among others, and now planning to force the costs of reporting uncertain tax positions onto all corporate taxpayers are actions that speak more loudly than their words!

 

Almost everyone thinks that the money they pay in taxes goes to the US Treasury to pay for the expenses of the government. Do you want to know where your tax dollars really go? If you look at the back of any check made payable to the IRS you will see that it has been endorsed as "Pay Any F.R.B. Branch or Gen. Depository for Credit U.S. Treas. This is in Payment of U.S. Oblig." Yes, that's right, every dime you pay in income taxes is given to those private banking families, commonly known as the FED, tax free.

 

What should we do about this? Under the supervision of the Treasury Secretary, this proposal from the IRS will make all corporate tax return preparers unpaid IRS agents! Big Brother is getting really big! It's time to SPEAK OUT! Read Announcement 2010-9:

 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/a-10-09.pdf

 

Let the IRS know how you feel about their plans by email at Announcement.Comments@irscounsel.treas.gov . Post a comment and share your feelings with our readers on this blog. Stick your head out the window and let your voice be heard!

[Guest Constitutionalist]

On March 11, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan will hear oral arguments on Schulz v. Federal Reserve, et al. (AIG Bailout) and Schulz v U.S. Executive Department, el al. ($700 Billion Bailout of Financial Institutions: “TARP”).

 

We are demanding the Court identify where in the Constitution it says the People have given the federal government the power to give or lend public money to any private entity for a definitively and decidedly private purpose.

 

These two constitutional challenges had been consolidated by the lower court.

[Guest stlouisfed.org]

In remarks today to the Economic Club of Memphis, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard discussed the historical context and deliberate design of the Federal Reserve System. He called for regulatory reform that strengthens – not weakens – the Fed's ability to head off future financial crises. Bullard also addressed the U.S. economic recovery now underway and cautioned that inflationary expectations appear to be on the rise.

 

Main Street, Wall Street, and Washington, D.C.

 

In his presentation, "The U.S. Economy: A Report from Main Street," Bullard addressed the history and design of the current Federal Reserve System and how its decentralized structure has provided strong checks and balances to keep power from being too concentrated in Washington, D.C., or New York City.

 

Bullard reminded the audience that today's Federal Reserve is actually the nation's third central bank. The first two, the First Bank of the United States (1791-1811) and the Second Bank of the United States (1817-1837), ended up being discontinued.

 

"The nation had no central bank during much of the 19th century," he noted. "The evidence from the 19th century is generally regarded as unfavorable – there was far too much financial instability. This led to the founding of the Fed following the panic of 1907."

 

The current Federal Reserve System was structured on the fundamental principle of keeping monetary policy at arm's length from the political process. To accomplish this, the System was designed with three distinct but complementary parts: the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C.; a Federal Reserve Bank in New York City, long regarded as the nation's financial capital; and 11 regional Reserve banks to represent the voice of Main Street across the rest of the nation.

 

"This regional structure was designed to keep some power out of New York and Washington and to ensure input on key policy questions from around the U.S.A.," Bullard explained. "It is this structure that has allowed the Federal Reserve System to be successful for nearly a century."

 

"Ultimate authority still remains in Washington," he said. "Members of the Board of Governors are appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate for a term of 14 years. This length of tenure enables Board members to make decisions at arm's length from the political process and away from election cycles." This is similar to the reasoning behind the lifetime tenures provided to justices of the Supreme Court.

 

"Allowing short-term politics to mix too closely with monetary policy leads to poor economic outcomes," Bullard said. "This has occurred frequently in the developing world over the last 50 years."

 

He further explained that, "The Board of Governors has oversight authority for the Federal Reserve System, including budgets and key appointments. This includes regional bank presidents and first vice presidents, as well as the chair and vice chair of the boards of directors at each bank." There is considerable accountability in the Federal Reserve System.

 

He pointed out that the Fed is extensively audited, a practice established long before recent calls to "audit the Fed."

 

"Our rough estimate is that about 425,000 hours are spent each year on audits. This is accomplished through internal audits, Board of Governors oversight and an external auditor," Bullard said. "The Fed is also subject to auditing by the General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress," although these hours are not publicly available.

 

"Additional audits are welcome, so long as they do not constitute political meddling," Bullard said.

 

Another way to help ensure good economic outcomes, Bullard said, is through open discussions and debates. "Monetary policy is vigorously debated every day, both inside and outside the Fed," Bullard said.

 

Regulatory Reform: The Case for More Fed Authority, Not Less

 

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, some have called for diminished Fed regulatory authority. Bullard said that it is instead time for the Fed to have broader authority.

 

"The clear lesson is that the Fed had insufficient access to information about the financial landscape going into the crisis, meaning that it did not have a full understanding of the potential for feedback between the financial sector and the rest of the economy," Bullard said.

 

He added, "As the crisis began, all eyes turned to the Fed as the lender of last resort. This always happens in a crisis – only the central bank can play the lender-of-last-resort role," Bullard said. "Going forward, the Fed will also be at the center of all future crises because of this lender-of-last-resort role. Therefore, reforms should provide the Fed with direct access to detailed information across the entire financial landscape."

 

"The Fed had detailed knowledge about only a small part of the financial landscape: the banking institutions for which it had supervisory authority. Prior to the crisis of 2007, this represented only about 12 percent of total U.S. banks," he said. The remaining banks were overseen by the Fed's sister regulatory agencies, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), as well as state bank regulators.

 

"Banks are only one part of the financial landscape," he explained. "Non-bank financial firms turned out to be the most troublesome entities in this crisis." The Fed had no oversight authority over these firms.

 

"A future Fed, with an appropriately broad regulatory responsibility, may be able head off a future crisis," he added.

 

The State of the U.S. Economy and Monetary Policy

 

Turning to the state of the economy, Bullard said, "The recession in the U.S. was severe, but the economic recovery is on track." He pointed to the past two consecutive quarters of positive GDP growth but noted the recovery from this severe and very deep recession has a long way to go.

 

"Labor markets remain weak and are at best stabilizing," he said. "Job losses were much more severe than at any other time in recent history." He noted that the number of hours worked is stabilizing, adding that this is typical behavior during the early phases of a recovery.

 

Other positive signs include the increase in U.S. housing starts and housing permits since the spring of 2009. "The housing sector is stabilizing," Bullard said.

 

"In addition, financial market stress has abated substantially since the fourth quarter of 2008," Bullard said.

 

However, inflation expectations are rising, he said, pointing to increasing spreads between Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) and Treasury bonds.

[Guest Anne]

Can someone explain what are credit default swaps? My husband is telling me that American banks are making money on Greece going bankrupt.

[Guest LAW]

Federal Reserve Initiatives to Increase Transparency

 

Transparency is a key tenet of modern central banking both because it contributes importantly to the accountability of central banks to the government and the public and because it can enhance the effectiveness of central banks in achieving their macroeconomic objectives. In recognition of the importance of transparency, the Federal Reserve has provided detailed information on the nontraditional policy actions taken to address the financial crisis, and generally aims to maximize the amount of information it can provide to the public consistent with its broad policy objectives.

 

The Federal Reserve has significantly enhanced its transparency in a number of important dimensions over recent years. On matters related to the conduct of monetary policy, the Federal Reserve has long been one of the most transparent central banks in the world. Following each of its meetings, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) releases statements that provide a rationale for the policy decision, along with a record of the Committee's vote and explanations for any dissents. In addition, detailed minutes of each FOMC meeting are made public three weeks following the meeting. The minutes provide a great deal of information about the range of policymakers' views on the economic situation and outlook as well as on their deliberations about the appropriate stance of monetary policy. Recently, the Federal Reserve further advanced transparency by initiating a quarterly Summary of Economic Projections of Federal Reserve Board members and Reserve Bank presidents. These projections and the accompanying summary analysis contain detailed information regarding policymakers' views about the future path of real gross domestic product, inflation, and unemployment, including the long-run values of these variables assuming appropriate monetary policy.

 

During the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve implemented a number of credit and liquidity programs to support the functioning of key financial markets and institutions and took complementary steps to ensure appropriate transparency and accountability in operating these programs. The Board's weekly H.4.1 statistical release has been greatly expanded to provide detailed information on the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and the operation of the various credit and liquidity facilities. The release is closely watched in financial markets and by the public for nearly real-time information on the evolution of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet.

 

The Federal Reserve also developed a public website focused on its credit and liquidity programs that provides background information on all the facilities. In addition, starting in December 2008 the Federal Reserve has issued bimonthly reports to the Congress in fulfillment of section 129 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; in October 2009, the Federal Reserve began incorporating these reports into its monthly report on credit and liquidity programs and the balance sheet. The monthly report, which is available on the Federal Reserve's website, provides more-detailed information on the full range of credit and liquidity programs implemented during the crisis. This report includes data on the number and types of borrowers using various facilities and on the types and value of collateral pledged; information on the assets held in the so-called Maiden Lane facilities--created to acquire certain assets of The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc., and of American International Group, Inc. (AIG)--and in other special lending facilities; and quarterly financial statements for the Federal Reserve System. Furthermore, the monthly reports provide detailed information on all of the programs that rely on emergency lending authorities, including the Federal Reserve's assessment of the expected cost to the Federal Reserve and the U.S. taxpayer of various Federal Reserve programs implemented during the crisis. To provide further transparency regarding its transactions with AIG, the Federal Reserve recently indicated that it would welcome a full review by the Government Accountability Office of all aspects of the Federal Reserve's involvement with the extension of credit to AIG.

 

The Federal Reserve has also been transparent about the management of its programs. Various programs employ private-sector firms as purchasing and settlement agents and to perform other functions; the contracts for all of these vendor arrangements are available on the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Moreover, the Federal Reserve has recently begun to publish detailed CUSIP-number-level data regarding its holdings of Treasury, agency, and agency mortgage-backed securities; these data provide the public with precise information about the maturity and asset composition of the Federal Reserve's securities holdings. On January 11, 2010, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a revised policy governing the designation of primary dealers.8 An important motivation in issuing revised guidance in this area was to make the process for becoming a primary dealer more transparent.

 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/mpr_20100224_part3.htm

[Guest LAW]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WJ2osFLvrQ

3:23 seconds into this video Ben Bernanke makes pledge to Congressman Ron Paul that every transaction ever made by the Federal Reserve is now open to the public. THIS SHOULD BE PUBLIC NEWS!!!