The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Fed’s Defense of IOR Undermined by Weak Treasury Auctions
English Summary
CATO argues the Federal Reserve's defense of its Interest on Reserves (IOR) program is fundamentally flawed. The Fed claims IOR and Treasury securities are fiscal equivalents, but this week's weak Treasury auction demonstrates they are not: investors carefully price Treasurys based on inflation and duration risk, while IOR is administratively set with no market discipline. The article contends this substitution argument ignores how markets function and allows the government to monetize debt without the market signals that would otherwise discipline fiscal spending.
中文摘要
卡托研究所認為，聯邦準備系統對其準備金利息（IOR）計畫的辯護從根本上存在缺陷。聯準會聲稱準備金利息與國庫券在財政上等同，但本週國庫券拍賣的疲軟表明並非如此：投資者根據通膨與久期風險精心定價國庫券，而準備金利息則由行政部門設定，不受市場紀律制約。該文章主張此一替代論點忽視市場運作機制，使政府得以在缺乏市場信號制衡的情況下將債務貨幣化，否則這些市場信號應可約束政府支出。
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