“Unconventional policies such as quantitative easing should be used only in true emergencies, in coordination with the rest of the federal government. There must also be an honest, independent, nonpartisan review of the entire institution, including monetary policy, regulation, communications, staffing and research.”
—Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, September 8, 2025
In the normal course of monetary policy implementation, the Treasury Department would issue Treasury bonds, notes, and bills, which foreign nations, predominantly, would purchase, thus creating cash flow to the Congress, who would spend that money. But in 2008, poor fiscal and monetary policy from decades earlier came home to roost. Foreign nations did not buy our Treasuries. They did not trust the Federal Reserve to maintain the dollar’s value. Disregarding the inability to sell our Treasury bonds on the open market, Congress and President Obama kept spending and kept demanding that the Fed Reserve and Treasury feed their addiction to spending.
Two critical, pivotal, and destructive events happened in 2008. The Federal Reserve, the Treasury, Congress, and President Obama decided to enter into one of the most incestuous monetary transactions of all time: quantitative easing (Q.E.).
The Treasury Department issued bonds for which there were no foreign buyers. The Fed Reserve “printed” 9 trillion U.S. dollars and “bought” those bonds from the Treasury. This act is immoral and should be illegal.
This act created the fuel that sparked massive inflation a decade later by devaluing the purchasing power of every other U.S. dollar in circulation. Further, this immoral act placed massive debt on the shoulders of every citizen alive and soon to be born. We taxpaying citizens pay back the debt created when the Treasury issues bonds. And we are paying off that debt with highly devalued dollars and Federal Reserve–induced high interest rates. So we taxpayers must pay down debt that we never agreed to undertake, with dollars that are worth less, and pay a high interest rate.
Monetary policy hurts every citizen and encumbers future generations so that politicians can continue spending — i.e., buying votes. This is self-serving and immoral.
The second critical and destructive act was that the president and Congress refused to moderate their spending, to live within their means and prevent today’s crisis. Make no mistake: Every promise a politician or bureaucrat makes is paid for by the tax-paying citizen.
The government doesn’t make money. It takes.
The “government” will never live within its means as long as the citizen allows it to get away with its immoral schemes. All the government does, no matter the immediacy of the current program, is spend other people’s money — yours.
Until the American citizen and taxpayer demands an accounting, these federal bureaucrats will continue running their illegal schemes.
Our government can’t be all things to all people. At some point, the individual must take responsibility and solve their own problems instead of kicking the can down the road and creating some new but impotent government agency to solve some manufactured problem.
Our nation’s monetary and fiscal policy is no longer in compliance with our founding Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The founders were wise. They perceived today’s problems and gave us a roadmap to put government back in place.
The entire Constitution is dedicated to limiting the power of federal bureaucrats and agencies, including Congress and the administrative function. The entity named government is addicted to spending other people’s money. Look at the convoluted, immoral ways the people running it go about attracting more power to themselves, at our expense.
The Declaration of Independence is just as relevant today as 250 years ago. The inalienable, G-d-given rights to life, liberty, and ownership of property are just as relevant today. Along with freedom comes responsibility. We citizens and taxpayers have a moral obligation to right these wrongs. We do so by understanding the cause, then proceeding to limit government incursion in our lives. If we want limited government, then we must demand less spending, lower tax rates, and less regulation.
Jay Davidson is founder and CEO of a commercial bank. He is a student of the Austrian School of Economics and a dedicated capitalist. He believes there is a direct connection joining individual right and responsibility, our Constitution, capitalism, and the intent of our Creator.
Image: pasja1000 via Pixabay, Pixabay License.