Rand Paul is dead wrong about vaccines. But he has a point about the Federal Reserve.

The senator wants to turn monetary policy into an object of democratic deliberation. Liberals should take him up on that.

Paul has a point.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File))

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is in the news this week for his rather kooky views on vaccination. Less noticed was his attempt to re-introduce a bill to audit the Federal Reserve — a policy prescription that has more merit.

It should be stated at the outset that if the Fed ever operated in the way Paul prefers, it would destroy the economy. But his bill, on its face, is merely an effort to open the institution up to more day-to-day political pressure. And political pressure can come from other directions — from, say, progressives and liberals — as well as the right. So the mainstream response to Paul’s efforts, well encapsulated by Catherine Rampell of The Washington Post as “let the Fed do its job,” is both rather obtuse and a giant missed opportunity.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.