Post Interest Rate Increase, Ron Paul Calls for Abolition of Federal Reserve

By Swati Kishore

Former US Congressman, author, and Bitcoin fan- Ron Paul has criticized the Federal Reserve yet again after the central bank raised interest rates. Paul has said that interest rates should be dictated by free markets and the Federal Reserve should be abolished.

Having written a book called ‘End The Fed’ in 2009, Paul is a strong opponent of the central banking system.

The Bitcoin supporter took to Twitter to share his opinions with his large number of followers. He was quoted as saying,

“The Fed has NO IDEA what rates should be. The Fed manipulates prices, distorts the economy, and makes decisions by looking at the “data” of a distorted economy.”

Interestingly, this will be the fourth time that interest rates in the United States are going up in 2018. Such interest hiked have fueled fears of a possible recession. Paul is of the view that the recession should be blamed on the central banking system.

In October 2018, Paul had warned people that a Federal reserve created recession is to come soon. Paul thinks that any future financial catastrophe could sound the death knell for fiat money.

Paul has provided a solution for navigating a potential future recession- elimination of taxes on crypto. He highlighted the matter saying,

“The only way to avoid crisis is to force Congress to end our monetary madness. The first steps are passing the Audit the Fed bill, allowing people to use alternative currencies, and exempting all transactions in precious metals and cryptocurrencies from capital gains taxes and other taxes.”

Interestingly, Paul was never the cryptocurrency advocate that he has become. Previously, he was critical of Bitcoin, while he advocated the gold standard strongly. Since then, he has come a long way. Now, he is championing crypto like never before. Paul is of the opinion that gold-backed currency and Bitcoin can co-exist.

Appearing on Fox News, Paul discussed the effect of an interest rate change, saying that a free market would not be adversely affected by an interest rate increase.