Luckily the Fed has a certain degree of independence. The Fed governors are named by the President and confirmed by Congress, but they don’t have to run in elections every couple of years. God! Imagine we would have elections for the Fed! I can see the TV ad: “Ominous music…Ben Bernanke has raised your rates to 5.25%! Does he care about your rising mortgage payments? No! Does he care about your well-being? No! He is a slave of big business and Wall Street! He doesn’t deserve your vote!…optimistic music follows… John Doe will slash rates to 1%! Your mortgage payment will be affordable again! Vote for prosperity and progress! Vote John Doe! This message has been paid for by the National Association of Realtors”.

Thank God we don’t get to elect the Fed. If we did, using dollars as toilet paper would actually save money.