Ryan labels Fed action 'sugar-high economics'

Paul Ryan labeled the Federal Reserve's latest round of stimulus "sugar-high economics."

Ryan's comments came during a campaign speech in Harrisonburg, Va., on Friday, a day after Mitt Romney's policy director, Lanhee Chen, called the Fed's action "artificial and ineffective."

"What they say is they don't think our economic growth is 'strong enough to feel sustained job creation,'" Ryan said. "Look, sugar-high economics is no substitute for pro-growth economics. What we don't need is more money-printing. What we need is more wealth creation, job creation and risk-taking."

Earlier in the week the Federal Reserve announced that it would make $40 billion worth of monthly purchases as well as buy $85 billion worth of new bonds every month until the end of 2012.

The announcement drew strong criticism from Republican legislators on Capitol Hill. Legislators said that the Fed's move was yet another sign that President Obama has no realistic plan for reducing the unemployment rate.

In his speech, Ryan added that the Fed's latest round of spending was also risky.

"And it's not as if all of this is risk-free. All of this money-printing from the Federal Reserve — it hurts savers," Ryan continued. "It hurts seniors living on fixed incomes, who've got CDs, who are waiting for returns to base their retirements on. We need honest money. We need sound money. We need economic growth and the foundations for economic growth. Borrowing, spending, regulating, taxing, printing — if all of this worked, we would be entering a golden age along with Greece. It doesn't work."

Ryan tied his criticism back to electing Mitt Romney president.

"Here's the good news," Ryan, Romney's running mate, said. "All we have to do is put the right policies in place by putting the right people in place and that means electing Mitt Romney the next president of the United States."

---