This comprehensive series delves into the intricate history of the United States' central bank, tracing its evolution from inception to the present day. It explores pivotal moments, policy shifts, and the economic philosophies that have shaped the institution. Readers will gain insight into the key figures, controversies, and the profound impact on the national and global economy. It is essential reading for anyone interested in monetary policy and financial history.
Spanning the period from the institution's founding in 1913 to the restoration of its independence in 1951, this title chronicles the evolution and development of the Federal Reserve from the Federal Reserve Accord in 1951 to the first phase of the Great Inflation in the 1960s, revealing the inner workings of the Fed during a period of change.
Spanning the period from the institution's founding in 1913 to the restoration of its independence in 1951, this title chronicles the evolution and development of the Federal Reserve from the Federal Reserve Accord in 1951 to the first phase of the Great Inflation in the 1960s, revealing the inner workings of the Fed during a period of change.
Allan H. Meltzer's monumental history of the Federal Reserve System tells the story of one of America's most influential but least understood public institutions. This first volume covers the period from the Federal Reserve's founding in 1913 through the Treasury-Federal Reserve Accord of 1951, which marked the beginning of a larger and greatly changed institution.To understand why the Federal Reserve acted as it did at key points in its history, Meltzer draws on meeting minutes, correspondence, and other internal documents (many never before made public) to trace the reasoning behind its policy decisions. He explains, for instance, why the Federal Reserve remained passive throughout most of the economic decline that led to the Great Depression, and how the Board's actions helped to produce the deep recession of 1937 and 1938. He also highlights the impact of ideas, particularly the ideas of Winfield Riefler and Randolph Burgess, that dominated policy decisions and led the Federal Reserve to make tragic errors. Meltzer also examines the influence the Federal Reserve has had on international affairs, from attempts to build a new international financial system in the 1920s to the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 that established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and the failure of the London Economic Conference of 1933.Written by one of the world's leading economists, this magisterial biography of the Federal Reserve and the people who helped shape it will interest economists, central bankers, historians, political scientists, policymakers, and anyone seeking a deep understanding of the institution that controls America's purse strings.