Richard Fisher: Senator Rand Paul Is “Wrong” On The Audit The Fed Bill

Updated on

Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher spoke with Fox Business Network’s (FBN) David Asman about whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year and the Audit the Fed Bill. Fisher said “I would expect you’ll see a hike sometime this year.” When asked whether he thinks the rate hike will be in June, Fisher said, “I have advocated that we should move, we should have moved in March in anticipation of what I see coming to the economy. I’ve lost that argument.” Fisher also commented on Senator Rand Paul and the Audit the Fed Bill saying, “We are audited out the wazoo” and “this is about interfering with the making of monetary policy. I respect the gentleman from Kentucky, but he’s wrong.”

Richard Fisher on whether we will see a rate hike this year:

“I would expect you’ll see a hike sometime this year.”

Richard Fisher on whether the rate hike will be in June:

I won’t be there. It’s up to the committee. I have advocated that we should move, we should have moved in March in anticipation of what I see coming to the economy. I’ve lost that argument. So, look, I’m very sensitive to their sensitivity, which is, they don’t want to push the economy back having made this recovery. So it’s a judgment call. I think the economy has recovered sufficiently. The pressures are beginning to build. I use a naval analogy. You don’t stop a ship on – by putting down the brakes. You slow miles ahead of time. And so there’s a lag in monetary policy. We don’t know how long the lag is.”

Richard Fisher on the Audit The Fed Bill:

I don’t believe it. We are — I’ll be blunt. We are audited out the wazoo…Every Federal Reserve Bank has a private auditor. We have our auditor of the system. We have our own inspector general. We are audited. That’s not what he’s talking about. What he’s talking about is politicizing monetary policy.  And who else puts their balance sheet out on the net? No corporation in America does that. We do that. We put our income statement out on the net. The — we are a porous, visible entity. That’s not what this is about. This is about interfering with the making of monetary policy. I respect the gentleman from Kentucky, but he’s wrong.”

Richard Fisher on whether the Federal Reserve went too far with its stimulus efforts:

“Well, you know my answer to that is, I felt we went too far, but let’s put that in context. We went through this traumatic injury. The whole system failed. Now, whether we or anybody else responsible for that, everything just collapsed, as you remember. And we did what central banks do, we stepped into the breach, we provided liquidity – because, remember, even the money market fund that failed, one of the great ones of all time…The first one established in the country, commercial paper, basic financial just ground to a halt. We stepped in. That was the right thing to do. That’s what central banks do to save the economy. You don’t have money moving through the economy, you can’t conduct business no matter what you do.”

Richard Fisher on whether the Fed fights the markets:

“Well, we’ve driven – now markets are driving rates even lower. We’re not buying anymore. But the point is we have to be extremely careful. And if there is a sale of these instruments, you’d have to do it very slowly over time.”

Richard Fisher on whether it would be a mistake to raise rates while the dollar is as strong as it is:

“Well, look, I think we deal with the real economy and we have to worry about what’s coming down the pike. If we see glimmers of inflation, which we don’t see right now, the trim mean measurement, which the Dallas Fed have, which is the most accurate of all, is running between 1.6, 1.7 percent on a 12 month basis. If we were to see employment continue to increase, we’re getting much, much better on that front and you begin to see the wage price pressures, that should govern what we do with interest rates. They’re thinking about their corporate earnings. I fully understand that. I’m worried about what’s best for the citizens of the United States.  And the real thing is, we don’t want to rekindle inflation. We’re not there, by the way. And you know I’m a hawk, but we’re not there. But employment is getting better and better and better and soon we’ll reach a point where wages will start increasing and they’re gradually ratcheting up with each passing year now. You saw they came in about 2.1 percent… And I don’t worry about inflation right now.”

Leave a Comment