|
Some investors find anti-Fed rhetoric unsettling, fearing
politicians might try to curb the U.S. central bank's
independence.
The Obama administration's regulatory policies, along with the
Fed's monetary policies, have stymied economic growth by
allowing financial assets to grow substantially in value while
wages have stagnated, Christie said.
"The Fed’s easy money policies and the president’s anti-growth
policies have made the rich even richer and made our middle
class work longer and harder for less pay and less promise for
their future," Christie said.
Christie made his comments during an appearance in New
Hampshire, which holds one of the party's first presidential
nominating contests. Though Christie has not formally launched a
White House campaign, his remarks revealed the basis of his
economic plan should he seek the presidency.
Christie said he would create conditions for the economy to grow
at a brisk annual rate of 4 percent through policy changes such
as overhauling the tax code and rolling back what he said were
burdensome regulations put in place by President Barack Obama.
Christie said he would lower tax rates for all Americans,
including eliminating payroll taxes for those over 62 and under
21. He also pledged to transition corporations to a system in
which they pay taxes in the country in which profits are
generated.
Obama, a two-term Democrat, cannot seek another term as
president.
Matthew Green, a politics professor at Catholic University in
Washington, said Christie's speech appeared to be an effort to
distinguish himself from other candidates and to appeal to
members of the Republican conservative base who are critical of
the Fed.
The sharpest criticism of the Federal Reserve typically comes
from the Tea Party and libertarian wings of the Republican
party, including from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who in April
said he is seeking the presidency and favors opening up the
Fed's policy decisions to congressional audits.
Congressional Republicans have criticized the size and scope of
the central bank’s $3 trillion bond-buying program that it put
in place to spur economic growth following the 2007-2009
recession. They have also taken aim at the Fed for keeping
interest rates ultra low, which critics say will spur inflation
and create a dangerous economic bubble.
In a tense exchange on Capitol Hill last year, Jeb Hensarling,
the conservative chairman of a U.S. House panel on financial
services, railed against the Fed’s wide discretion over the
economy and pressed for a more "rules-based" approach to
monetary policy.
The Fed also surfaced as a 2012 campaign issue when former
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry unsettled Wall
Street by suggesting then-Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke’s decision to "print money" was "treasonous."
Criticism of the Fed from moderate Republicans has been less
common.
"It is possible that Chris Christie is trying to appeal in some
way to some of those Rand Paul supporters in the party, trying
to distinguish himself," Green said.
Christie was considered a Republican 2016 favorite until the
"Bridgegate" scandal in which transportation and state officials
were alleged to have engineered a traffic jam as political
punishment.
Recent opinion polls show him lagging other Republicans,
including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Marco
Rubio of Florida.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Amanda Becker; Additional
reporting by Luciana Lopez and Hillary Russ in New York and
Howard Schneider in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller and
James Dalgleish)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
