From: Wikimedia Commons
While former-Rep. Ron Paul’s showdowns with Ben Bernanke recede into yesteryear, his calls to “Audit the Fed” may once again reverberate through the halls of Congress.
Republicans are increasingly likely to take back the Senate today, which could put congressional focus back on the Federal Reserve’s shadowy shenanigans, The Wall Street Journal claims:
Financial executives say a GOP-led Senate would ratchet up congressional scrutiny of the central bank’s interest-rate policies as well as its regulatory duties as overseer of the nation’s largest financial firms.
“If the Republicans take control of the Senate and thus have control of both the House and the Senate—two words for the Federal Reserve: Watch out,” said Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America.
Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen may have put the (perhaps temporary) kibosh on quantitative easing, but that’s not enough for critics of the central bank:
Many Republicans want Fed officials to move quickly now to raise interest rates from near zero and shrink the central bank’s balance sheet, which has climbed to near $4.5 trillion.
Scrutiny of the Fed’s monetary policies and regulatory activities has sometimes been a bipartisan affair. This past year, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), held 11 hearings looking into…