Maybe I'm all crazy about this, and it's possible that I don't actually know what the fed does, but isn't the fed only responsible for the raising and lowering of the federal interest rate? And if that's so, wouldn't it be totally irrellevant what the chair's political beliefs are as it's hard to imagine the fluctuations of the interest rate being decided by Republican/Democratic or even Libertarian idealogy.

I don't think there's any political party that's going to argue against economic growth on a general level.

Hey, be more specific. How did being an Ann Rand fanatic affect Greenspan's worldview? It's been a long time since I read Anthem. :)

For some reason, DoorFrame, the chair of the federal reserve has more influence than just fixing the interest rate. The speeches the chair gives w/r/t the economy and its growth can affect the market's performance. But in any case, my snipe about Rand reflects more of a personal preference of mine; I have always found her philosophies to be rather juvenile, and when I hear that someone is a Rand follower, I (perhaps unfairly) question the soundness of their mind.

Levi, the wikipedia article on ayn rand has a section on the controversy that surrounds her and her philosophy.

Sorry to be a Poli Sci/Gov dork, but the Fed does quite a bit more than raise and lower some unspecified federal interest rate. Check out the general info on the Fed at http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqfrs.htm and info on the uber-important Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) at http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqfomc.htm

By the way, the chair of the Fed doesn't unilaterally set "the rate." The FOMC does that. The rate is the federal funds rate (oh, fine, here's the Wikipedia link, you geeks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_funds_rate).

Well, I looked at the wikipedia article Marco, and was curious as to why
you just did not mention "unfettered capitalism?" Also, I think Ayn = an
annoying way to spell a name.