Welcome to 2015. On the Chinese calendar, it will soon be the Year of the Sheep. On the financial calendar, it looks like the Year of the Fed. Let’s hope the Fed doesn’t get sheared.
As almost everyone knows, this year the Federal Reserve will start to “exit” from its hyper-expansionary monetary policies. But the Fed may also spend the year defending itself against a series of congressional attacks on its independence.
The barrage started on Jan. 12, when a seemingly innocuous provision was tucked into a piece of must-pass legislation, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, with no hearings, no congressional debate and, for the most part, no notice. The law now requires that the seven-member Federal Reserve Board include “at least 1 member with demonstrated primary experience working in or supervising community banks having less than $10,000,000,000 in total assets.’’
Now, there is nothing wrong with having a community banker on the Fed board; and President Obama ’s announced nominee, Allan Landon, seems well qualified. The problem is assigning board seats to specific constituencies. What about big bankers? Labor leaders? Home builders? Professors? Democrats? Republicans? As Fed ChairJanet Yellen explained at a congressional hearing in July, this could lead to “earmarking each seat for a particular kind of expertise.” Yes, the new law could Balkanize and politicize the Fed. For example, what will happen when Democrats realize that virtually all community bankers are Republicans?
