Dressing Down the Fed

"Sir, let me take this moment to compliment you on your fashion sense, particularly your slippers."
--Chris Knight (Real Genius)

Last month the NY Fed invited Jim Grant to say a few words. Seems the Fed wants to be seen as an entity that willing to listen to its critics. Pretty funny.

JG didn't pass on the opportunity to let it fly. Grant brilliantly puts the Fed's actions today in the context of the 1913 charter. This perspective clearly demonstrates that the Federal Reserve is far beyond its original scope.

Grant stops short of the ultimate prescription, which in Paulian language would be for the Fed to dismantle itself. Perhaps Grant is afraid that the Fed would take him seriously. After all, as he notes, the Fed's escapades have essentially kept him in business.