Fall 2013 - 63810 - PA393L - Advanced Policy Economics

The central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve, is the most powerful peacetime bureaucracy in the federal government. Its actions affect the economic well being of United States residents and people around the world. Yet, few know much about what it does. What they do know is often wrong. What powers does this central bank have? How is the United States money supply created and how are interest rates managed by the Federal Reserve? How, why and under what authority does the Federal Reserve appropriate loans to foreign countries bypassing the United States Congress? How has the Federal Reserve met its responsibilities to reduce gender and racial bias in bank lending? How did the Federal Reserve manage its fleet of 500-plus airplanes that delivered paper checks across the country every weekday night? What happened to the transcripts of its meetings that it kept secret for seventeen years and why did it begin to shred its records in the 1994? How is the Federal Reserve connected to the banks it regulates? How has Congress carried out its oversight responsibilities of this powerful government bureaucracy? The 2008 financial crisis and its continuing effects will be presented.