--- title: We Know Paul Ryan’s Views on Monetary Policy. Now We Need to Know Mitt Romney’s. description: Paul Ryan believes the dollar's value should be tied to commodities. He thinks monetary policy should never, ever aim to lower unemployment. He worries that... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7184484/we-know-paul-ryans-views-on-monetary-policy-now-we-need-to-know-mitt-romneys/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-08-15T09:45:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-18T07:33:15.764Z article:section: Politics og:title: We Know Paul Ryan’s Views on Monetary Policy. Now We Need to Know Mitt Romney’s. og:description: Paul Ryan believes the dollar's value should be tied to commodities. He thinks monetary policy should never, ever aim to lower unemployment. He worries that... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7184484/we-know-paul-ryans-views-on-monetary-policy-now-we-need-to-know-mitt-romneys/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d968af81318df9a/698b23689d83e86773ba1874/romney_monetary_0815.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: USA-2012 Election-Mitt Romney campaigns in SE Ohio og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: We Know Paul Ryan’s Views on Monetary Policy. Now We Need to Know Mitt Romney’s. twitter:description: Paul Ryan believes the dollar's value should be tied to commodities. He thinks monetary policy should never, ever aim to lower unemployment. He worries that... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d968af81318df9a/698b23689d83e86773ba1874/romney_monetary_0815.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) # We Know Paul Ryan's Views on Monetary Policy. Now We Need to Know Mitt Romney's. > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=897329c5-1897-4af3-ba96-ba869caa3099&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Aug 15, 2012 9:45 AM UTC  14 Aug 2012 --- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns Aug. 14, 2012 at American Energy Corporation's Century Mine in Beallsville, Ohio. --- Image by © Joshua Bickel/Corbis 14 Aug 2012 --- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns Aug. 14, 2012 at American Energy Corporation's Century Mine in Beallsville, Ohio. --- Image by © Joshua Bickel/Corbis © Joshua Bickel/Corbis by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Aug 15, 2012 9:45 AM UTC Paul Ryan believes the dollar’s value should be tied to commodities. He thinks monetary policy should never, ever aim to lower unemployment. He worries that inflation is always right around the corner. And he’s said he believes these things in part because he read Ayn Rand. Those views are pretty far outside the scope of mainstream economics, so they’re [getting](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/forget-paul-ryans-budget-his-scariest-idea-is-about-the-federal-reserve/261066/) [a lot](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/13/what-did-ayn-rand-teach-paul-ryan-about-monetary-policy/) [of ink](http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/08/13/what%5Fpaul%5Fryan%5Fs%5Fayn%5Frand%5Ffandom%5Fmeans%5Ffor%5Fmonetary%5Fpolicy.html). But would these views have any bearing on monetary policy under President Romney? We don’t really know.more Vice Presidents don’t set monetary policy. Heck, Presidents don’t set monetary policy. But the President gets to pick the person who does, which will next happen when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s term expires in 2014\. And here’s what we know about Mitt Romney’s views on monetary policy, which will inform his choice: He won’t nominate Bernanke for another term and he [opposes](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/04/romney-to-cnn-federal-reserve-should-not-enact-new-major-stimulus/) a “massive” new bond-buying program right now because he doesn’t think it would help the economy. That doesn’t really tell us much. (**MORE:** [Will Ben Bernanke Pull the Trigger on More Bond Buying?](http://business.time.com/2012/07/31/will-ben-bernanke-pull-the-trigger-on-more-bond-buying/)) It was probably politically unviable for Romney to support another term for Bernanke, who’s become a monetary boogeyman on the right in the wake of the financial crisis. But just because he opposes a third term for Bernanke does not mean he opposes Bernanke’s broader approach to monetary policy. (Romney [has said ](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-05/news/sns-rt-us-usa-campaign-romney-economybre8740cf-20120805%5F1%5Fqe3-mitt-romney-monetary-stimulus)Fed easing in 2009 was “effective to a certain degree.”) On the same note, just because he opposes “massive” easing right now doesn’t mean he generally opposes the Fed’s mission to foster employment. (The Romney campaign didn’t immediately return a request for clarification on his position.) Even the Fed’s doves voted for no new action at the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting and there are a lot people who think further easing wouldn’t make much difference. Sure, Romney has now associated himself with Ryan’s views by adding him to the ticket. But there’s also the Romney campaign’s economic team, which probably disagrees with much of what Ryan believes about monetary policy. Through the magic of the Internet, here’s Harvard Economist and Romney adviser Greg Mankiw[ expressing skepticism](http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2010/12/mono-mandate-for-fed.html) at a 2010 Ryan op-ed on ending the Fed’s mandate to address employment. Oh and [here he is](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/business/economy/whats-with-all-the-bernanke-bashing.html?%5Fr=1) defending Bernanke’s term in 2011 and [calling for negative interest rates](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/business/economy/19view.html?%5Fr=1&pagewanted=all) in 2009. (**MORE:** [Inside Romney’s World, a Mix of Optimism and Outrage](http://swampland.time.com/2012/08/10/inside-romneys-world-a-mix-of-optimism-and-outrage/)) There are other holes in Romney’s monetary policy platform: He’s said he generally backs more congressional oversight of the Fed, but hasn’t divulged whether an “audit” should make deliberations on interest rates public, as recommended by anti-Fed crusader Ron Paul. It’s yet another populist conservative cause that Romney advisers [have criticized](http://www.aei.org/article/economics/monetary-policy/the-fed-can-lead-on-financial-supervision/) in the past. Inference by association only goes so far. Where the candidate stands is a mystery. And just as he [needs to do a better job](http://swampland.time.com/2012/08/14/a-big-ideas-campaign-with-few-specifics-on-a-key-issue/?iid=sl-main-lede) explaining how he differs from Ryan on fiscal policy, Romney needs to lay out where he stands on monetary policy. **(** **PHOTOS:**[**The Rich History of Mitt Romney**](http://swampland.time.com/2011/08/31/the-rich-history-of-mitt-romney/)**)** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7184484/we-know-paul-ryans-views-on-monetary-policy-now-we-need-to-know-mitt-romneys/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7184484/we-know-paul-ryans-views-on-monetary-policy-now-we-need-to-know-mitt-romneys/"},"headline":"We Know Paul Ryan's Views on Monetary Policy. 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