Recent market volatility has led some to claim that markets themselves are inherently unstable. But the data do not back them up. 

The up and down of “risk on” and then “risk off” sentiment is associated with the instability created by our own central bank—the Fed—which has grown into a financial colossus starting with its reaction to the Great Recession. It’s now the single largest player in our financial markets. 

That's a problem in and of itself, but the other problem is that the Fed has an inherently unstable “dual mandate” from Congress. 

It has the job of fighting inflation by selling investments to drive down prices and also the job of fighting unemployment by buying investments to stimulate consumer sentiment. 

Every day, investors are forced to comb through the news and figure out which of the two contradicting mandates the Fed will follow next.

The Fed should stick to its original mandate, sound money, or be replaced with something that will.