Local analyst back in the news

Gulf Coast investment analyst Dick Bove has dipped into the national debate over the Federal Reserve's efforts to revive the economy, specifically Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's plan to buy $600 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds.

Bove is one of 24 people who signed an open letter to Bernanke that recently ran as a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal. Co-signers of the letter include former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin; Weekly Standard editor William Kristol; Stanford University economist Michael Boskin, who chaired President George H.W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers; and David Malpass, an official in the Treasury Department under President Reagan. The letter was assembled by e21, a conservative economic policy think tank.

“We believe the Federal Reserve's large-scale asset purchase plan (so-called “quantitative easing”) should be reconsidered and discontinued. We do not believe such a plan is necessary or advisable under current circumstances,” the letter states. “The planned asset purchases risk currency debasement and inflation, and we do not think they will achieve the Fed's objective of promoting employment.”