Why Federal Reserve Independence Matters, With Jokes
Let's get 40 percent serious
One thing we know for sure is that the upcoming election will be decided by factors that are unspeakably dumb. That’s because our system is basically garbage data run through the world’s most broken supercomputer, interpreted by a glue-huffing simpleton and recorded by an otter with an abacus that he doesn’t know how to use. We’ll spend the coming months thinking and debating and writing capital-”i” Important columns about The Future Of Our Republic, but then one candidate will make a gaffe — perhaps audibly farting at a Waffle House, or something similar — and the course of history will be charted.
That’s a shame, because our choice will have a major impact on people’s lives. I’ve written about how I think an important difference between the candidates is that Trump threatens the indepence of the Federal Reserve, while Harris doesn’t. I’m not hearing this talked about much outside of cobweb-strewn corners of Twitter that even I — a fake economist1 — find about as interesting as the Wikipedia page for silt. So, let’s talk about this because it should be talked about, and then we can go back to living our best lives, i.e. watching funny cat videos and masturbating to our coworkers’ Facebook photos.
The Federal Reserve is a shadowy cabal that controls America’s finances from behind a veil of mystery. This is a good thing. The organization consists of three key components which are the Board of Governors, the regional Federal Reserve Banks, and holy shit I’m already losing you here’s a GIF of a turtle on a little skateboard:
Probably the most important part of the Federal Reserve is the 12-person body that sets monetary policy. These people are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, serve fixed terms, and are subject to an ethics code, so all jokes about being a “shadowy cabal” aside, compared to the Supreme Court, the Federal Reserve are a bunch of day laborers you pick up at Home Depot. The Fed is led by the Chair of the Federal Reserve, a person typically chosen for their comprehensive knowledge of economics and for having an instantly forgettable face. Here are the four most recent chairs of the Federal Reserve:
