by James Franey at New York Post
The Federal Reserve is pushing ahead with an eye-watering $2.5 billion revamp of its Washington, DC HQ despite mounting losses — as one ex-official accused central bankers of behaving like French royalty.
The lavish project, first rubber-stamped by government pen-pushers in 2021, is now effectively being subsidized by American taxpayers because the Fed has not made a profit since 2022.
“The Federal Reserve is building the Palace of Versailles on the National Mall,” said Andrew T. Levin, professor of economics at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, referring to the long-deposed French monarchy’s official residence just outside Paris.
“Congress must put its foot down and take a closer look at this to determine what authority the Fed has to spend this on its buildings,” Levin, who served with the Fed’s board from 1992 to 2012, added.
A Federal Reserve spokesperson declined to comment.
Costs have ballooned by nearly 32% from a 2019 estimate of $1.9 billion to complete with all of the work set to be finished in 2027.
Planning documents posted online blame “significant increases” in the cost of building materials that “far exceed standard cost escalations.”…
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