Bernanke defends easy money policy, blames Congress for spending
Don’t blame the pusher-man. He just sells the drug. Blame the addict who keeps coming back.
That’s essentially Bernanke’s defense of QE3.
The Wall Street Journal reports,
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pushed back against criticism that the central bank’s low-interest-rate policies are enabling bad fiscal policy in Washington, saying the Fed’s approach could help shrink the federal budget deficit over time.
Some Republican lawmakers and foreign government officials say the Fed’s policies, by lowering the U.S. government’s borrowing costs, take pressure off the White House and Congress to restrain the growing deficit. “I find this argument unpersuasive,” Mr. Bernanke said in a speech to the Economic Club of Indiana. “The responsibility for fiscal policy lies squarely with the administration and the Congress.”
Moreover, he said, “using monetary policy to try to influence the political debate on the budget would be highly inappropriate.”