On How Awesome Is The Internet - Part 1

How awesome is the internet? It's really, really awesome. Because bad guys get to say bad things to a wide audience, but good guys can say good things in response. Often in the same place. And in real time (or approximately in real time).

What a great arrow in the quiver of truth and freedom.

Here's today's example:

At one minute after midnight this morning (May 13, 2009), Forbes.com published an article by a fellow named Thomas F. Cooley (a distinguished looking fellow - bespectacled ... bearded): T. Cooley's article (link).



In the article, T. Cooley argues that the Federal Reserve ought to be left alone. That it ought not be subjected to the audit those pesky elected representatives seek with H.R. 1207 [1], which legislation calling for a meaningful audit of the Federal Reserve (i.e., what has the Fed been doing with the trillions of dollars it has created in recent months?).

Among other things, Cooley says in conclusion:

Anything that threatens the independence of the Fed threatens the long-term viability of monetary policy. It is really important that the expanded role of the Fed in the current crisis not threaten that viability. An independent Fed can pursue policies that are politically unpopular yet in the public interest. We need central banking to be boring again, not something that keeps us on the edge of our seats.

If he wanted to say something TRUE, he should have left the first six words of the first sentence of the quote above out. Instead he says something expedient for The Establishment. Which is what the whole article is about.

Pimping for the man (the Fed).

(One of most remarkable things Cooley says, by the way, at least from the point of view of readers living in objective reality, is that: "Without independence, the political cycle would subject the central bank to political pressures that, in turn, would impart an inflationary bias to monetary policy." Assuming Mr. Cooley knows that since the Fed was created in 1913, the purchasing power of one U.S. dollar has gone down by 95%, there is PLENTY of inflationary bias to the Fed's monetary policy even with the quantum of so-called "independence" the Fed has at present.)

Happily, though, we can now (finally) get to the part of this note wherein we celebrate the awesomeness of the internet.

People are leaving comments on Cooley's article: click here for comments.

And folks are tearing Cooley's article to shreds. And noting Cooley's connections to the political-class (i.e., folks who benefit from the Fed running its business the way it currently runs its business).

Then nine minutes before 9:00 a.m. this morning, Lew Rockwell posted a note on the LRC.com blog linking to Cooley's article: Lew Rockwell blog post (link).

There were thirty-eight comments when I last checked (a couple minutes before publishing this blog post). I didn't see one comment in support of Cooley's propaganda piece. Thank goodness.





[1] H.R. 1207 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX). There is also a version of the bill in the U.S. Senate called the "Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009" having been introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT)). For the curious, click here to read the Wikipedia page about the bill.