It is interesting how the Federal Reserve Board, long the champion of fiscal and monetary prudence when others spend money, has declared war on the idea that anyone should account for how the Fed spends money.

Think about it: In the largest bailout in history, neither the public nor members of Congress can even make an intelligent estimate of how much money the Fed has actually spent, or exactly how it is being spent, or exactly who are the major beneficiaries of much of the spending. We know taxpayers, consumers and jobless workers are not the beneficiaries, but we don’t even remotely know the full story of exactly which institutions benefit from exactly which programs.

The stakes are very high, and as this battle unfolds it will continue to be the greatest show on earth, and one of the most important.