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Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - OakleyPress_10.03.08 - Index

OCTOBER 3, 2008 BRENTWOODPRESS.COM | 23A
Opinion from page 22A
prices to increase markedly, attracting
speculators. The increased need for buyers
of these loans was met by Wall Street
fi rms, creating bundled, mortgage-backed
loan securities that were sold to investors
throughout the world. Meanwhile, the Fed
was attempting to cut back on the money
supply, increasing the Federal Funds Rate
multiple times but unable to curb the excesses
over the relative short term until the bubble
was fi nally burst.
In correspondence with economist
Milton Friedman over a 10-year period in
the 1990s, he supplied me with graphs from
his computer showing that there was a twoyear
delay in market reaction to changes in
the money supply. Micromanagement by
the Fed cannot effectively work due to this
fact. Milton Friedman wrote in a letter to
me: “the Board (Fed) has always fl own by
the seat of its pants,” “the best thing that you
could do would be to abolish the Federal
Reserve and replace it with a computer.”
He believed that the money supply
should increase to conform to the increase
in population (approximately 2 to 3 percent)
and that the economy should not attempt
to micromanage it because in that attempt,
peaks and valleys are exacerbated and make
things worse rather than better.
Although Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac are surely a part of the problem, what
triggered the current housing market crisis
cannot be directly placed on them. The
Fed is to blame and should be reformed
to conform to meet the recommendations
of Milton Friedman. Certainly other
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reform is also necessary to minimize
market distortions created by government’s
interference in free-market commerce.
Ben Cerruti
Brentwood
My hat’s in the ring
Editor:
My name is Jennifer Finetti and I am a
candidate for the Discovery Bay Community
Services District (CSD). I wanted to extend
my thanks and appreciation to the Discovery
Bay Chamber of Commerce for allowing
me and the three other CSD candidates the
opportunity to speak at the recent Business
Expo and Community Fair/Chamber Mixer
about the issues facing our community.
As I indicated during my remarks, this
year, much focus has been placed on the
national election – arguably what will be
one of the most important elections in our
history. But this is also a critical election
for our local community, as we face many
challenges.
Discovery Bay voters need to be sure to
carefully consider candidates for this position
– to fi nd out more about each candidate’s
qualifi cations as well as his/her perspectives
on the issues. Just as important is the need
for voters to research the facts when opinions
are presented.
With this thought in mind, I
encourage you to visit my Web site, www.
jenniferfi netti.com, to fi nd out more about
my qualifi cations as well as my thinking and
motivation for running for this position.
Additionally, all candidates have
see Opinion page 24A
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