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History is Repeating Itself

Floor Speech

Date: March 18, 2022
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, inflation is a thief, and many of us believe that the Federal Reserve is behind the curve in fighting that thief.

History is repeating itself, Madam Speaker, and Jay Powell is now fighting and facing precisely what his predecessor Arthur Burns called the ``anguish of central banking'' in 1979.

Sustained stagflation, high current inflation, growing high inflationary expectations, and now a commodity shock, these are all of the problems that Chair Burns faced in the 1970s.

While I welcome the Fed's action to shrink the balance sheet and start with the 25 basis-point increase in short-term rate targets, this process should have started in 2020. In my view, they should have been more aggressive this week and supported a 50 basis-point increase in short-term rates.

It is time for Congress to reassess and debate the central bank's mandate. In my view, the Fed should have a single mandate focused on containing inflation and keeping prices in check for Americans at the pump, at the grocery store, and whenever they pull out their wallet.

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