Fed wants end to ‘minimum reserve requirements’

By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, March 18th, 2010 -- 8:12 pm

n the footnotes of a speech U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke would have given to the House Financial Services Committee on Feb. 10, lies a unique and startling disclosure.

Hosted on the Federal Reserve's own servers, the written testimony of the bank's chairman explains in plain text what expanding the Fed's powers will do.

"The Federal Reserve believes it is possible that, ultimately, its operating framework will allow the elimination of minimum reserve requirements, which impose costs and distortions on the banking system," footnote number nine, at the bottom of the page, explains without additional qualification.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who is not running for reelection, is currently pushing a financial reform bill that would grant the Fed unprecedented new powers to regulate financial markets, including insurance companies and small lenders, under the auspice of forcing such firms to lessen their exposure to risky investments.

Wondering how that would have prevented a collapse the likes of which nearly sank the financial system at the end of George W. Bush's presidency, Forbes writer John Carney mocked Dodd's plan as "incredibly stupid."

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