by Contributor
David Stockman’s Contra Corner
From The Federalist
For the first time in decades, the Federal Reserve has been playing a non-negligible role in the presidential race. Candidates in both parties took turns criticizing the Fed for either not doing enough to fix the economy, or for going far past its scope and putting the economy at risk.
But moving beyond political stump speeches—and, for that matter, conventional thinking among economists—the question should still be asked: Does the Federal Reserve even matter? Here author John Tamny explains the thinking behind the title of his provocative new book, “Who Needs the Fed?” (Encounter Books, May 24).