Ron Paul: Way Too Much Power for the Federal Reserve Chair to Have

As the Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting, the prevailing opinion is that the Central Bank will raise interest rates for the first time this year. Former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), joined the FOX Business Network’s Mornings with Maria to discuss Federal Reserve policy and why he is concerned about the influence of Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

“My position on central economic planning is I don’t like it and I don’t like It when one person can do it and that’s the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. But everybody hangs on it because they have to,” he told host Maria Bartiromo.

According to Paul, the Fed’s money-printing and zero-interest rate policy has had a negative impact on the economy.

“Prices are going to go up and the money’s going to be so bent according to political reasons and not because of business decisions, so we want the government out of it, we want people to save money, create capital, but capital cannot come from the Federal Reserve working with a computer, that’s the fallacy and that’s why zero rates of interest didn’t work because they weren’t realistic.”

Paul then weighed in on how he believes the Fed is manipulating the economy.

“We do not work on a free-market principle, we do not have sound money, it’s all manipulated.”

When asked whether he was hopeful President-elect Donald Trump’s administration could rein in the Fed, Paul responded, “Yeah, I do have a little bit of hope. I don’t have any hope for the Federal Reserve because they’re incapable of doing something that they don’t know how to do. They don’t know what the interest rates should be.”