Changes

The current Chairman is [[Ben Bernanke]], a Republican appointed by President [[George W. Bush]]; his predecessor was [[Alan Greenspan]], a Republican appointed by President [[Ronald Reagan]].  

The current Chairman is [[Ben Bernanke]], a Republican appointed by President [[George W. Bush]]; his predecessor was [[Alan Greenspan]], a Republican appointed by President [[Ronald Reagan]].  

[[Ron Paul]], libertarians and many conservatives want to abolish the Federal Reserve. For 30 years Ron Paul has called for the secretive Federal Reserve bank to be audited.<ref>[http://www.ronpaul.com/congress/legislation/111th-congress-200910/audit-the-federal-reserve-hr-1207/ Audit the Federal Reserve]</ref> Ron Paul's website declares "Since the Fed’s creation in 1913 the dollar has lost more than 96% of its value, and by recklessly inflating the money supply the Fed continues to distort interest rates and intentionally erodes the value of the dollar."<ref>[http://www.ronpaul.com/congress/legislation/111th-congress-200910/audit-the-federal-reserve-hr-1207/ Audit the Federal Reserve]</ref>

[[Ron Paul]], [[libertarian]]s and many conservatives want to abolish the Federal Reserve. For 30 years Ron Paul has called for the secretive Federal Reserve bank to be audited.<ref>[http://www.ronpaul.com/congress/legislation/111th-congress-200910/audit-the-federal-reserve-hr-1207/ Audit the Federal Reserve]</ref> Ron Paul's website declares "Since the Fed’s creation in 1913 the dollar has lost more than 96% of its value, and by recklessly inflating the money supply the Fed continues to distort interest rates and intentionally erodes the value of the dollar."<ref>[http://www.ronpaul.com/congress/legislation/111th-congress-200910/audit-the-federal-reserve-hr-1207/ Audit the Federal Reserve]</ref>

One job of the Federal Reserve is to control [[inflation]] by adjusting the supply of money in the economy. This is done by buying and selling government bonds in order to influence banks' cash supply (called "open market operations", setting the amount of money that banks must keep in reserve, and setting the interest rates for money it lends to banks (the Fed's lending facility is called the "discount window")<ref>http://www.federalreserve.gov/pf/pdf/pf_3.pdf</ref>. These three major operations are the basis of [[monetary policy]], and are performed by the Fed to target a specific [[Federal Funds Rate]] that it believes will be low enough to ensure available credit and stimulate the economy, but high enough to prevent inflation.

One job of the Federal Reserve is to control [[inflation]] by adjusting the supply of money in the economy. This is done by buying and selling government bonds in order to influence banks' cash supply (called "open market operations", setting the amount of money that banks must keep in reserve, and setting the interest rates for money it lends to banks (the Fed's lending facility is called the "discount window")<ref>http://www.federalreserve.gov/pf/pdf/pf_3.pdf</ref>. These three major operations are the basis of [[monetary policy]], and are performed by the Fed to target a specific [[Federal Funds Rate]] that it believes will be low enough to ensure available credit and stimulate the economy, but high enough to prevent inflation.