What People Mean When They Say ‘Audit the Fed’
It’s easy to say that the Fed is a very secretive, mysterious institution. That has certainly been true historically, and in some respects remains true today. But in most of the ways that matter, the Fed is actually more transparent about what it decides to do, why, and how it carries those policies out than almost any other institution in government.
.. “Audit the Fed” legislation makes more sense when you view it not through the lens of transparency and disclosure, and more through the lens of strong disagreement with the policy choices the Fed has actually made over the last several years. The decision to keep interest rates near zero for the last seven years and buy trillions of securities have certainly been controversial, and it is perfectly fair game to argue that these policies have fueled new financial bubbles, risk inflation, or contribute to inequality.
But framing those appropriate debates as a simple fight over transparency and disclosure conflates policy disagreement with a general push for good government.