What Would Be Involved in an Audit of the Federal Reserve? – Part One

08-23-2009 • American Banking News

There has been a self-conscious effort to confuse the proposed audit of the Federal Reserve, initiated by Ron Paul, in order to fight off what would be unveiled and revealed by that very audit. So before we get into what an audit of the Federal Reserve would entail, let’s look at part of the basic argument Ben Bernanke has brought forth concerning the issue. Here’s what Bernanke has said concerning an audit: “Because GAO reviews may be initiated at the request of members of Congress, reviews or the threat of reviews in these areas could be seen as efforts to try to influence monetary policy decisions.” The GAO refers to the General Accounting Office, which at this time is not allowed to audit the Fed, and which the legislation put forth by Ron Paul wants to change. Ben Bernanke evidently doesn’t read the Constitution of the United States, as if he did, he wouldn’t have made the statement above which contradicts it. For example, in Section 1 of the Constitution it says