[FoRK] Fed Makes Emergency 0.75% Rate Cut

[Luis Villa]

On Jan 22, 2008 7:51 PM, J. Andrew Rogers <andrew at ceruleansystems.com> wrote:
>
> On Jan 22, 2008, at 4:28 PM, Sat N wrote:
> > Does anyone else find it disturbing that both the Fed and President
> > use just the stock market performance solely as an index of economic
> > performance?.
>
>
> Well, that and the idea that either the Fed or the President is
> responsible for the strength of the economy.  If there is a problem
> with the economy, the blame rests largely with Congress since the
> policies that will actually make the economy weaker or stronger are
> under their purview.
>
> I always found it odd to blame a President for an economy -- for good
> or bad -- when it is almost entirely Congress that has control over
> these things to the extent that the government has control over the
> direction of the economy at all.

He's completely powerless, except for the veto, and the bully pulpit,
and the nomination of the chair of the Fed, and proposing budget
priorities, and...

(They don't call them the Bush Tax Cuts for nothing.)

(Not that Congress has done their part well for ages either, but...)

Luis