Fed quietly posts record $46.1-billion profit in 2009.
I find this promises a fascinating alternative to us actually paying taxes. The Fed has enormous influence over interests rates and even exchange rates and, of course, stock and bond markets. It seems to me that with a proper amount of cunning, the Treasury Department could regularly generate profits. I'm waiting for Sarah Palin to take the "no new taxes" pledge to the next level, campaigning with the slogan, "No taxes."
That would, of course, give us years to figure out how to make up for the fact that all this manipulation would leave our investment portfolios stunted like bonzai trees in a redwood forest. But then again, having to work until you die would sting less if you knew that your income wasn't being taxed. I would hope.
