End the Fed? A not-so-crazy idea

08/03/2009 • Christian Science Monitor

Congressman Ron Paul's bill may never pass, but history suggests the US economy would be better off without the Federal Reserve Since it was introduced in February, Representative Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" bill (H.R. 1207) has gained 282 congressional cosponsors. If adopted, the bill would allow the Government Accountability Office to review, not only the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, but its recent monetary policy deliberations and transactions. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke opposes the plan, saying it would undermine the Fed's hallowed independence. But Mr. Paul, a noted libertarian who ran for president last year, also wants to keep the Fed out of Congress's clutches – by scrapping it altogether. That's the goal of his follow-up Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act (H.R. 833). Although that measure has yet to gain a single cosponsor, it has plenty of grass-roots support, and Paul hopes that members of Congress will jump on the bandwagon once t