Stiglitz: Federal Reserve System Is 'Corrupt'

[marmar]

from Huffington Post:



Shahien Nasiripour
[e-mail] | HuffPost

Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-Winning Economist, Says Federal Reserve System 'Corrupt'
First Posted: 03- 3-10 07:00 PM | Updated: 03- 3-10 08:16 PM


One of the world's leading economists said Wednesday the very structure of the Federal Reserve system is so fraught with conflicts to the point that it's "corrupt."

Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, a former senior vice president and chief economist at the World Bank, said that if countries applying for World Bank aid during his time would have presented a financial regulatory system similar to that of America's Federal Reserve, in which regional Feds are partly governed by the very banks they're supposed to police, it would have raised alarms.

"if we had seen a governance structure that corresponds to our Federal Reserve system, we would have been yelling and screaming and saying that country does not deserve any assistance. This is a corrupt governing structure," Stiglitz said during a conference on financial reform in New York. "It's time for us to reflect on our own structure today, and to say there are parts that can be improved."

Stiglitz made the remarks at a conference held by the Roosevelt Institute. Featuring speakers like Stiglitz, Harvard Law professor and federal bailout watchdog Elizabeth Warren, and legendary investor George Soros, the event produced bold ideas on reforming the nation's financial system on topics like consumer protection, the credit rating agencies, the securitization market, and ending Too Big To Fail. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/03/stiglitz-nobel-prize-winn_n_484943.html

[amborin]

1. Stiglitz is brilliant and honest; he predicted the bust and he criticizes Obama's choice of advisors

[Hippo_Tron]

2. We need to have separate entities for monetary policy and for regulation

The fed should deal with monetary policy and another agency should regulate, since the fed hasn't really been inclined to do its job on that latter part.

[xchrom]

3. Recommend

[pa28]

4. He's right.

Just check the New York Fed's board of directors to see how "independent" they are. The banks can and do drain public equity for their own benefit in the name of financial stability.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Hmmm...do I see a groundswell ?

[roamer65]

6. Just for the history aspects of the Fed, the book "The Creature from Jekyll Island" is a good read.

Just skip the parts where the author starts up the libertarian "abolish the Fed" crap.

[Octafish]

7. Secret info rules...

Stiglitz made his exon bones analyzing the role info plays in economic decisions. What players do we know who've used their positions in govt for self-agrandizement?

K R B and thanks for an excellent post, marmar.

[FourScore]

8. No shit, Sherlock. eom

[applegrove]

9. Stiglitz is a prize. Glad he's on our side.

[Festivito]

10. Corrupt seems a euphemism to me. They're evil incarnate. /nt

[Truth2Tell]

11. Tide shifting? K&R nt