"They Are All a Bunch of Money Printers"

A group of "conservative" economists met with Fed chair Janet Yellen, on Friday. As Ludwig von Mises might say, "They are all a bunch of money printers."

They didn't discuss the distortions to the capital-consumption structure caused by Fed money printing.  They only discussed, degrees of Fed money printing, different methods of Fed money printing and the level at which the Fed should distort interest rates.

CNN reports:

Steve Lonegan, the director of monetary policy at the American Principles in Action who organized the meeting, told CNN after the conclusion of the meeting. "I would like to hope that what we established with Chair Yellen was respect."...

In addition to discussing the potential harm of keeping interest rates low for too long, some participants also shared their wish to see the central bank take a more "rules-based" approach in its policy decisions, according to several attendees...

Jim Martin, chairman of the 60 Plus Association, told Yellen and Brainard that record low interest rates coupled with rising cost of living are hurting the country's seniors.

"A Federal Reserve policy that eases restrictions on interest rates, allowing struggling seniors to earn even a few extra dollars from their savings and investments would be a true God send," Martin said, according to prepared remarks shared with CNN. "To the elderly, such a policy could be the difference in their very survival."

--RW