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  3. Journal of Economic Literature
  4. September 2016
  5. Current Federal Reserve Policy under the Lens of Economic History: A Review Essay

Current Federal Reserve Policy under the Lens of Economic History: A Review Essay

  • Stephen D. Williamson
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 54, no. 3, September 2016
(pp. 922-34)
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Abstract

This review essay reviews the volume edited by Owen Humpage, Current Federal Reserve Policy under the Lens of Economic History: Essays to Commemorate the Federal Reserve System’s Centennial, and provides a broader perspective on central-banking issues. The papers in the Humpage volume address various aspects of central banking history, money, and private banking, with a focus on putting recent Fed policies in perspective. The topics covered include the role of the central bank as lender of last resort, the effects of open-market operations versus central-bank lending, central-bank independence, the political economy of monetary unions, financial crises, the effects of unconventional monetary policies, commodity monies, and the Canadian financial system as a natural experiment.

Citation

Williamson, Stephen, D. 2016. "Current Federal Reserve Policy under the Lens of Economic History: A Review Essay." Journal of Economic Literature, 54 (3): 922-34. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20151354

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • E32 Business Fluctuations; Cycles
  • E52 Monetary Policy
  • E58 Central Banks and Their Policies
  • G01 Financial Crises
  • G21 Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
  • G28 Financial Institutions and Services: Government Policy and Regulation
  • N10 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: General, International, or Comparative