The Wall Street Journal-20080206-FOMC- Give Us a Brake-

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FOMC: Give Us a Brake!

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Congratulations for another well-deserved moniker for our esteemed Federal Reserve Chairman ("Nascar Bernanke," Review & Outlook, Jan. 31).

Perhaps the chairman should take notes from the playbook of the European Central Bank. Many on Wall Street condemn the ECB for not following the lead of the Federal Open Market Committee. I think the ECB might be the last bastion of financial sense on the planet.

Europeans, especially the Germans, remember hauling wheelbarrows of deutsche marks to the bakery to buy a loaf of bread. The Europeans know inflation. They know GDP is an easily manipulated statistic through government spending and soft dollar policies. They also know that devalued currencies and artificially pricing lender and borrower risk and reward, are a one way ticket to repeating history.

Our country could lower interest rates to the point where banks would theoretically pay consumers to borrow money. But until our government recognizes that banks aren't going to assume risk until the reward of doing so outweighs the risks, our country's credit stalemate will continue. And unfortunately, the effects of our monetary policy may lead to Americans pushing wheelbarrows to the bakery.

Sean P. Shaughnessey

Liberty, Mo.