Richard Moore says the Federal Reserve is welcome to borrow from North Carolina.
In an appearance on CNBC, the Democratic state treasurer said Wednesday that the state's public pension fund would be willing to lend money — at the right price — to try to boost liquidity in the banking industry.
"I'd like to think that Hank Paulson has been as creative as possible. I've got a solution for you this morning, Becky," Moore told the channel's Becky Quick.
If the Congress is not willing to loan this money, if the Fed will give me a guaranteed rate of return — 7, 8 percent — I'll loan them the money, and I think there are a lot of pension plans across the country that would loan money to the federal government at that kind of rate. And I'll give him the fire power he needs to settle this out.
Moore described the heart of the problem as banks being unwilling to loan to each other.
"We really do have a real problem if banks can't trust each other, particularly with short-term trading, so we do need a solution to this and we need it quickly," he said. "But boy, that's easier said than done in our society, isn't it?"
Moore spokeswoman Sara Lang told Dome Thursday that the idea of lending to the Federal Reserve is still only a hypothetical.
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Re: Fed can borrow from us, Moore says
I have admired Richard Moore and agree that he is smarter and understands the economy and most other things better than many of our "leaders." But this little boasting joke apparently made in his incessant quest for national media attention isn't even a little funny to me.
Questions for the Treasurer:
Shall we get ready to add the capital H to hubris?
Are you familiar with the frequent payoff to those who display it, especially in such a gloating fashion?
"I'll loan them the money" - oh really, will you? All by yourself? Do you remember whose money that actually is?