Retired US Congressman Ron Paul — a bitcoin skeptic turned proponent — reiterated his calls to abolish the Federal Reserve shortly after it raised the baseline interest rate a quarter of a percentage point, to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%.
This is the fourth time that the Fed — the central banking system of the United States — raised interest rates in 2018. The move sparked renewed fears of a US recession that could potentially trigger a global recession in 2019.
Ron Paul said the Federal Reserve should let the free market dictate interest rates instead of artificially manipulating them.
Paul: ‘The Fed Distorts the Economy’
“The Fed has NO IDEA what rates should be,” Paul tweeted. “The Fed manipulates prices, distorts the economy, and makes decisions by looking at the ‘data’ of a distorted economy.”
Central planning produces a world of economic delusions. America needs to get back to reality. End The Fed!
This is not the first time that Ron Paul — the father of current US Senator Rand Paul — has called to abolish the Federal Reserve.
As CCN reported in October 2018, Ron Paul trashed the Fed for manipulating interest rates, saying such artificial machinations could actually cause a recession. This, in turn, could bring about the death of fiat currency, he said.
“It is likely that the next Fed-created recession will come sooner rather than later,” Paul said. “This could be the major catastrophe that leads to the end of fiat currency.”
Paul said the only way to avoid a Fed-created recession is to let people use alternative currencies like bitcoin and to exempt cryptocurrencies from taxes.
Paul said central banks constantly increase and decrease the money supply to control the economy by manipulating interest rates.