Name change:

In a Los Angeles Times story that wonders what Greenspan will say about Social Security plans, we read:

Some lawmakers hope that Greenspan will tip his hand when he testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Wednesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday.

The hearing in the Senate has the title:

The Federal Reserve's First Monetary Policy Report to Congress for 2005

Here is a backgrounder on these hearings from TheStreet.com:

Until mid-2000, when it expired, a piece of legislation known as Humphrey-Hawkins required the Federal Open Market Committee to report to Congress on the economy and monetary policy twice a year. While Congress wrangles over new legislation, the practice continues, with reports in February and July. While they're no longer officially Humphrey-Hawkins reports, they're still colloquially called that.
[...]
The original legislation, the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, was named for its sponsors, Sen. Hubert Humphrey and Rep. Augustus Hawkins.

Hubert Humphrey - a well known Democratic politician.
Augustus Hawkins - a Democratic congressman representing Los Angeles (African-American district, in case you were wondering)

It's too bad the name Humphrey-Hawkins has been dropped. They started it. They should continue to get credit for it.

posted by Quiddity at 2/15/2005 02:54:00 PM