There has always been something controversial about the Federal Reserve System and it has been a target for conspiracy theorists thanks to its complex structure and mix of private and public underpinnings. For an institution that is not technically part of government it wields a huge amount of power over our economy and has the authority to picks winners and losers as demonstrated by its recent intervention in the blow-up of investment bank Bear Stearns.

Tuesday Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke politely asked for additional powers. He noted in a speech to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that, “Another possible step to reduce the incidence and severity of financial crises, recently proposed in the Treasury blueprint for regulatory reform, would be to task the Federal Reserve with promoting the overall stability of financial markets.”

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