The Federal Reserve’s Escape from New York

The US Federal Reserve System is the world’s most important central bank, issuing decisions that reverberate through global markets and affect millions of lives. Yet its governance structure is of another age – antiquated, increasingly problematic, and urgently in need of sensible reform.

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Federal Reserve System is the world’s most important central bank. Its decisions about interest rates and financial regulation reverberate through global markets and affect millions of lives. Yet its governance structure is of another age – antiquated, increasingly problematic, and urgently in need of sensible reform.

The Fed made major mistakes in the run-up to the global economic crisis of 2007-08, most notably by adopting a lax approach to the supervision of key financial institutions, and by allowing some very large banks to become extremely fragile. In one of the great ironies of modern American politics, the post-crisis Dodd-Frank financial reforms of 2010 actually gave more power to the Fed, mostly because other US regulatory agencies were regarded as having done a worse job.

In view of the Fed’s decidedly mixed track record since the Dodd-Frank reforms, some officials evidently regarded that default by Congress as a mandate to conduct business as usual. Recent press reports have highlighted lapses in supervision, particularly in and around the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – one of 12 regional banks in the Fed System, which also has a Board of Governors in Washington, DC.

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