Abstract
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s record since the end of World War II has been checkered at best. Along with some significant accomplishments have come considerable shortcomings. The central bank’s greatest achievements are these: First, under Paul Volcker’s leadership (see Chap. 4 ), the Fed broke the back of the virulent inflation that had plagued the economy for a decade and a half beginning in 1965. Had prices continued their upward spiral for much longer, our economy, and possibly our very social structure, could have suffered dire consequences. Second, under Ben Bernanke, the Fed—albeit belatedly—helped ameliorate the macroeconomic impact of the 2008 financial crisis. While it is true that Greenspan’s Fed policies contributed to the credit binge at the heart of the crisis, his successor acted innovatively to help ward off what likely could have morphed into a great depression. Indeed, monetary policymakers deserve considerable credit for the fact that the U.S. hasn’t suffered a major depression since the 1930s.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Enrich, David. “Six Ex-Brokers Acquitted of Libor Rigging in London.” Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2016.
Flaherty, Michael. “At Least 113 Staffers at U.S. Fed Earn More Than Yellen.” Reuters, October 17, 2014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kaufman, H. (2016). The Politicizing of the Fed. In: Tectonic Shifts in Financial Markets. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48387-0_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48387-0_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48386-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48387-0
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)