While Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has loudly accused China of being a currency manipulator, the Federal Reserve has been an interest rate manipulator, says Jeff Cleveland, senior economist at money manager Payden & Rygel, referring to the Fed’s quantitative easing program.
"It's interesting to me that when the Chinese central bank buys Treasurys [with dollars it has purchased to restrain the renminbi’s strength,] that's currency manipulation,” Cleveland tells Yahoo.
“When the Fed buys Treasurys, well, that's just good economic policy."
Editor's Note: You Deserve to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans
But Cleveland doesn’t think it’s good policy. "We fail to see the direct link, or even an indirect link, between the size of the Fed's balance sheet [which consists largely of bonds] and the unemployment rate."
And while the Fed’s not helping the economy, it’s distorting the bond market, Cleveland says.
"What it’s really doing, day to day, is removing liquid, and quite frankly, highly sought after securities from the bond market."
Renowned investor Jim Rogers has equally low regard for the Fed policy. “It hasn’t done much good for the world, certainly not for American manufacturing production or for employment numbers,” he tells Business Insider.
Many experts are worried that the Fed’s easing, by lifting the value of assets such as stocks and homes, could set up excesses in financial markets.
“Is there some risk you could start a new bubble and repeat the whole cycle? I suppose there is,” Yale economist Robert Shiller tells Bloomberg.
Editor's Note: You Deserve to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans
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