On 2013-06-19, at 1:19 PM, raghu wrote: > On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 10:41 AM, Marv Gandall <[email protected]> wrote: > Excellent post, Jim. I'd add a) "independent" central banks free from mass > political pressure as well as b) binding free trade agreements with > provisions designed to supersede the legislated gains won over generations by > workers and farmers to protect their living standards as two other devices > which the corporations and their states have used to distance themselves from > democratic control. > > > I wouldn't be too quick to denounce central banks run by technocrats. Do you > really want the Fed to be controlled by the present Congress infested with > Tea Party crazies?
Unfortunately, democratic institutions in capitalist societies don't come with guarantees that befuddled voters won't elect crazies with the power to legislate on a whole range of issues. In relation to the Fed, the congressional initiatives haven't been too bad. There have been a number of bills jointly sponsored by conservative Republicans like Ron and Rand Paul and supported by progressive Democrats like Allan Grayson and Bernie Saunders (a de facto Democrat) which have not sought to abolish the Fed but to make its operations more transparent and accountable to Congress. What's objectionable about that? _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
