Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the United States has experienced one of the most unprecedented economic interventions in all of its history. Since March and April both the Federal Reserve and the US federal government have injected trillions into the economy in hopes of stabilizing it and reducing unemployment. At the expense of the public, both institutions have handicapped themselves for the future, and it will be extremely difficult to ever return to a “normalized” policy situation without triggering a larger economic crisis.

I spent a little time at Jekyll Island, Georgia, the weekend before last. I looked hard, but I didn’t find the mythical creature from Jekyll Island. From what I hear, it’s taken up permanent residence in Washington, DC. But I did locate its birthplace.

If you don’t get the reference, I’m referring to the Federal Reserve.

I’d like to continue the discussion of Scott Sehon’s article “No, the Nazis Were Not Socialists” that I began last week. At the end of my article, I berated Sehon. He says that the word “socialist” in the name of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) doesn’t show that the Nazis were really socialist.

With all the history, lore and media spotlight the Federal Reserve receives, how many people stopped to ask: What is the Fed’s purpose?

According to their website’s FAQs, the Federal Reserve system exists to:

provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.

It aims to carry this out through free market intervention including:

Tuesday’s speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell began with the usual nod to the pandemic for making life difficult for the masses, followed by the various pats on the back for the central bankers and what they have done in fighting the problems caused by COVID. Powell even praised the government, noting “the fiscal response was truly extraordinary,” thanks to the $3 Trillion of “economic support” under the CARES Act as well as several other lesser known bills.

The ascent refers to the difficult climb nations face as they “come back from the depths of crisis.” It promises to be “long, uneven and uncertain,” as explained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, at an event hosted by the London School of Economics (LSE). This “path forward” for the 189 member countries serves as a precursor to the IMF’s 2020 Annual Meetings which commenced this week.