The Federal Reserve System and Central Banks

Federal Reserve Building, Washington, DC    Photo Credit: Flickr.com/wwarby

The Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is the part of government that controls the nation’s money supply. It should properly be viewed as a fourth branch of government, even though it is never mentioned in the Constitution nor in any of its amendments. Once appointments of the governors and regional bank presidents by the President are ratified by the Senate, these officers of the Fed can make decisions that need no approval by any other officer of the federal government. The posts linked below give a description not only of the Fed’s mission, organization, and powers, but also why they have developed their policies. Although this subject might seem like dry stuff, understanding the Fed is absolutely vital to understanding how we have descended into the economic hard times we have.

In addition, posts dealing with the central banks of other countries will be included. Their experiences give us added data points on the results of different monetary policies.

• The Federal Reserve: What it is  (June 4, 2015)
• The Federal Reserve and Monetarism  (July 5, 2015)
• The Evolution of Modern Economic Theory   (July 9, 2015)
• What has Happened to All That QE Money?  (May 8, 2015)
• Economic Effects of the Dodd-Frank Act   (July 1, 2015)
• Current Economic Effects of the Federal Reserve  (July 17, 2015)
• Division in the Fed  (August 20,  2015)
• The Ideal Monetary Policy  (August 20, 2015)
• Monetary Rules  (August 21, 2015)
• Monetary News from Jackson Hole   (September 2, 2015)
• A More Accountable Fed   (September 10, 2015)
• Quantitative Easing and Its Effects   (September 12, 2015)
• Why Have ZIRP and QE Failed?   (September 17, 2015)
• Economic Damage Created by the Fed   (September 25, 2015)
• Is It Even Possible for the Fed to Raise Rates?   (October 22, 2015)
• The Wall Street Casino Is Open Courtesy of the Fed   (November19, 2015)
• The Fed is Losing Credibility (Duh!)   (November 23, 2015)
• Whatever Will We Do About the Fed?   (November 29, 2015)
• The Insanity of Negative Interest Rates   (December 9, 2015)
• BOJ Also Losing Credibility and Its QE War   (December 21, 2015)
• A Replacement for Keynesian Monetary Policy   (January 24, 2016)
• The Bad Examples of the ECB and BOJ   (January 30, 2016)
• The Federal Reserve Is in a Bind   (February 12, 2016)
• Europe’s Monetary Experiment Not Working!   (March 2, 2016)
• Stock Investors’ BIGGEST Enemy: Central Banks   (April 5, 2016)
• The Fecklessness of the U.S. Federal Reserve   (April 21, 2016)
• The Fed Hangs Fire on Interest Rates   (June 16, 2016)