“In the weeks immediately after the bombing [in Lebanon], I believed the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle East politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off.”—Ronald Reagan, An American Life, pp. 466-467
Epstein’s case exemplifies how federal law doesn’t apply to the financial elite.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee cut the target policy rate by 0.25 percent, bringing the target down to 4.25 percent. This cut is the first since the Fed implemented a cutting cycle last year that reduced the target rate from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent. That series of cuts began with a 50 basis-point cut in September of last year, ending with a 25 basis-point cut in December.
[America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War by H.W. Brands (Doubleday Books, 2024; 444 pp.)]
The gold price is off and running this week. But, money creation isn’t listed as a cause, instead, “Policy volatility is off the charts, and it’s especially emanating from the White House,” said Johan Jooste, chief executive officer at Pangaea Wealth AG. “The policies look to be either accidentally or deliberately dollar-weakening, which is a positive for gold.”
The images are hard to watch: A young woman, Iryna Zarutska—a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee—is sitting in her seat on the Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail, engrossed in her phone as she is riding home after work. A black male, Decarlos Brown, sits behind her and he suddenly stands up and quickly stabs her with a large pocketknife.
Testimony of Alex J. Pollock, Senior Fellow, Mises Institute
To the Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity, Of the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives
Hearing on “Less Mandates. More Independence.”
September 17, 2025
How Congress Should Oversee the Federal Reserve’s Mandates
