Lew Rockwell on Arthur Burns' political gaffe

[Arthur] Burns--whom Murray [Rothbard] described as sounding like W.C. Fields without the humor--answered, the Fed chairman has to do what the president wants, or "the central bank would lose its independence." He meant, of course, its ability to live high on the hog, and reward its constituents in banking and Wall Street.

A retired Fed official once told me that was "the most damaging statement" ever made by anyone associated with the central bank. It certainly meets Michael Kinsley's definition of a political gaffe: inadvertently telling the truth.

~ Lew Rockwell, "Great Moments in Central Banking," LewRockwell.com blog, January 21, 2008