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December 28, 2011 2:00PM 

# The New York Times versus Ron Paul 

By [George Selgin](https://www.cato.org/people/george-selgin) 

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December 28, 2011

Editor 
*The New York Times*

Sir,

As you claim that Ron Paul’s belief that the Federal Reserve should be abolished disqualifies him for the presidency ([“Mr. Paul’s Discredited Campaign,”](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/opinion/mr-pauls-discredited-campaign.html) December 27), and thereby appear to be convinced that no alternative to the Fed could possibly do better, we wish to alert you to our recent research reaching the opposite conclusion ([“Has the Fed Been a Failure?”](http://www.cato.org/pubs/researchnotes/WorkingPaper-2.pdf) Cato Institute Working Paper no. 2, forthcoming in the *Journal of Macroeconomics*). We wonder as well about the grounds, apart from mere *a priori* convictions, for your contrary opinion.

Sincerely,

George Selgin, professor of economics, the University of Georgia; 
William Lastrapes, professor of economics, the University of Georgia; 
Lawrence H. White, professor of economics, George Mason University.

##### Related Tags 

[Monetary Policy](https://www.cato.org/monetary-policy), [Alt-M](https://www.cato.org/alt-m), [Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives](https://www.cato.org/center-monetary-financial-alternatives) 

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