Sunday, October 20, 2013

House Passes Bill To Audit The Federal Reserve

By Cornelius Nunev


The House of Representatives has just passed a bill that would authorize the federal government to audit the Fed. The bill may not go anywhere, but a growing number of people want more transparency in how the nation's central bank conducts its affairs.

Get audit getting support

Everyone in the country, and most throughout the world, are impacted by the Fed and has been since 1913 when it was produced. When you get installment loans, mortgages and borrow other cash, the fed controls that. The expenses of lending money are controlled. It also controls how much a dollar is worth adjusting inflation based on the things it does.

The Federal reserve is also one of the many "independent government agencies." In other words, it's a private business that is part of the government. Some think not enough info is made publicly available by the Fed about its dealings, which has led to many legislators and citizens calling for a bill that would audit the Fed, or rather force the agency to open its books completely to scrutiny.

House satisfied with bill

More government agencies may have to start showing their finances to the public soon since the House of Representatives just passed the bill 327 to 98. The bill would require the Federal reserve to open its books specifically. The Fed has been criticized by Representative Ron Paul of Texas who might have been expected to do it since he has not supported the law for a while now.

The basic idea of the bill would allow more access to Federal reserve policy decisions. Right now, records from meetings where the Fed decides to adjust the inflation rate on currency take three weeks to be released and five years for the transcript to come out. The agency publishes its balance sheet every week online too. CNN points out that Deloitte and Touche just did an internal audit. The audits are done each year. The idea of the bill is for additional instant access though.

Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke not okay with it

Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has often warned, according to Bloomberg, that an "audit the Fed" law that goes too far will place the agency under direct Congressional control, which could possibly put the agency at risk of manipulation for political purposes. Part and parcel to the agency's creation was that it remains independent of Congress, which is often as fickle as public opinion. He does, however, advocate for greater transparency.

The bill is not likely to pass in the U.S. Senate. Bloomberg quoted Representative Barney Frank as saying "no one here expects it to become law."




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