Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement in response to the Federal Reserve’s plan to control the compensation practices of financial institutions.

“This is an outrageous announcement that goes against every principle that has created American prosperity,” said Congressman Price. “Neither the Federal Reserve nor this administration has authority to set rules for wage and compensation practices. Markets should set salaries, not bureaucrats. By even considering such a proposal, the U.S. government has announced to the world that we have given up on a market-based economy. Authoritarian control will not re-energize our economy; it will institutionalize stagnation and signal to America’s best and brightest that their potential is now limited by an overbearing federal government. Once a beachhead is established in controlling the pay of private individuals, there’s little left for Americans to control in our economy.

“This type of centralized control over the economy has no place in our free-market, capitalist society. Such overreach is precisely why proper regulatory reforms are needed to rein in the Fed and refocus it on its core mission of monetary policy. Flexibility, not rigid central planning, is the hallmark of a truly vibrant and dynamic economy.”