1900-1919
Proper regulation of the size of the money supply perceived to come about
largely automatically through banks' rediscounting short-term paper at
Federal Reserve Banks
Initial perception of relatively autonomous regional "credit policy"
by Federal Reserve Banks, i.e., Reserve Banks would set own district discount
rates, which might differ from other districts
Charles S. Hamlin, chairman, Federal Reserve Board/1914
W.P.G. Harding, chairman, Federal Reserve Board/1916
1920s
Open market operations discovered and need for coordinated national monetary
policy realized in early '20s
Daniel R. Crissinger, chairman, Federal Reserve Board/1923
Roy A. Young, chairman, Federal Reserve Board/1927
1930s
Eugene Meyer, chairman, Federal Reserve Board/1930
Eugene R. Black, chairman, Federal Reserve Board/1933
Marriner S. Eccles, chairman, Board of Governors/1934
1940s
Fed supports war finance program of U.S. Treasury by pegging Treasury
bond rates at low levels
Thomas B. McCabe, chairman, Board of Governors/1948
1950s
Federal Reserve-Treasury "accord" frees monetary policy from
fixing Treasury bond rate, allows ease or restraint to adjust to general
economic conditions/Early '50s
William McChesney Martin, chairman, Board of Governors/1951
Monetary policy defines a "leaning against the wind" strategy/1950s
1960s
Monetary policy strategy of "leaning against the wind" generally accommodates fiscal policy in period of rising stimulus/1960s
1970s
Arthur F. Burns, chairman, Board of Governors/1970
Fed announces monetarist strategy to reduce money growth rates over a
period of years as a way of eliminating inflation/1975
Money supply generally outgrows announced objectives as a result of an
open market operating procedure focusing on target interest rates for
federal funds/1976-79
G. William Miller, chairman, Board of Governors/1978
Paul Volcker, chairman, Board of Governors/1979
Fed adopts a change in operating procedure focused on attaining target
levels of bank reserves supplied through open market
operations/1979
1980s
Rapid innovation of new types of market or fixed interest-bearing
spendable accounts causes the traditional relationship between money growth
rates, spending and inflation to break down, at least for the present/1982
and later
Fed reduces its emphasis on money supply measures, especially M1, as strategic
targets for monetary policy, and puts more weight on interest-rate targeting
as an operating procedure/late 1982
Alan Greenspan, chairman, Board of Governors/1987
