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Beware of Trump plan
to politicize the Fed
The Federal Reserve is designed to be an independent, apolitical body with two mandates, maximum employment and price stability. Most Americans are completely unaware of the role the Fed plays in our economy and would be loath to explain the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy.
Should he prevail in the upcoming presidential election, former President Donald Trump messages he would like to exercise more control over the Federal Reserve Bank in setting interest rates.
That being said, voters should be educated on the risks of politicizing the Fed. One need only look at the disastrous economic outcomes of Turkey and Venezuela as their authoritarian presidents either removed or browbeat the central bank’s leadership to lower interest rates.
To have a president put his or her thumb on the scale in the decision-making would be a grave mistake.
Grant Lindholm
Palo Alto
Housing crisis driven
by complex issues
Housing is complex. But here are two points to consider (which analysts rarely address).
First, unregulated rent-seeking private hedge funds are driving up rents and control some of the supply of rental property. They artificially create scarcity. This should change.
Second, property taxes change the entire ownership model. It’s not just about servicing a mortgage and maintaining a property, property tax can be the key deterrent to home ownership.
We can only hope that our politicians and analysts start to get real about the true costs of both renting and home ownership. It’s the only way we can begin to solve the homeless problem.
James Hall
Sunnyvale
SJSU housing testament
to diverse community
Re: “SJSU views housing tower as boost for students” (Page B1, Aug. 17).
It is wonderful that the new housing complex, Spartan Village on The Paseo, will be a vibrant living space for SJSU students and a source of pride for the entire community.
We must not forget that this fine housing tower is on the former site of Market Street Chinatown, a vibrant immigrant community destroyed May 4, 1887, by a racist act of arson. A plaque in front of the hotel, once the Fairmont, tells the story of what happened here. The rest of the story can be found at Heinlenville Park a few miles away in Japantown.
This is an American narrative of resistance and courage and the origins of our diverse, multicultural community.
Connie Young Yu
Los Altos Hills
Pharmacy benefits
managers harm patients
The FTC’s interim July report on Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBM) and their nefarious practices is sending shockwaves nationally, confirming patients’ access to affordable medications has been sacrificed through anti-competitive practices. What started off as middlemen negotiating drug prices has ballooned into a billion-dollar industry, with only six companies controlling nearly 95 percent of prescriptions filled in the US.
According to the report, this power allows PBMs to charge whatever price they prefer, steer patients to go to their own parent company’s pharmacy and force mom-and-pop pharmacies to close.
PBMs have gone unchecked for too long, primarily because our policymakers felt they didn’t have finite evidence exposing their unscrupulous practices. But now they have it.
I am thrilled to see the FTC signaling a lawsuit against the top three PBMs for driving up insulin costs and overcharging for cancer drugs. PBMs are harming the very people they are supposed to protect.
Julie Gill Shuffield
Executive Director of Patients Come First
Yuba City
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Harris economy would
worsen inflation rate
If you think we had high inflation under Joe Biden, wait until Kamala Harris gets in.
Excessive government spending will cause more Biden-like inflation except much higher. Businesses will be forced to pass inflation on in the form of higher prices and the economy will slow, resulting in higher unemployment, lower wages and less economic growth.
What the government gives with one hand it takes away with inflation, which is just a stealthy government tax.
Ed Kahl
Woodside
