Dallas Fed CEO Touts Central Planning as Key to Economic Growth

Richard Fisher, head of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank boasted at a recent speech in Midland, TX the Fed's torrent of money printing since the Financial Crises of 2008 saved the U.S. economy from certain death. That was unsurprising. The very existence of the Federal Reserve is predicated on the notion that private banks and individuals are not smart enough to responsibly manage the nation's money supply.

Even staunch defenders of the free market find nothing inconsistant with a centrally planned banking industry and a (partially) free market in all other sectors of the economy. (This bizarre blindspot in the eyes of true defenders of capitalism is a topic for another discussion.) What was striking about Fisher's speech was near the end, after a vague reference to political criticism of the Fed  

(emphasis mine):

Pointing fingers at the Fed only diminishes credibility―the ugly truth is that the problem lies not with monetary policy but in the need to construct a modern, appropriate set of fiscal and regulatory levers and pulleys to better incentivize the private sector to channel money into productive use in expanding our economy and enriching our people.

Without a planned economy, businesses and investors would helplessly flail about, incapable of making the capital investments necessary to expand their companies and hire new workers. That is an "ugly truth", indeed. Does Fisher actually believe economic growth depends on the "levers and pulleys" constructed by Washington planners?