Economics Atlas

How Wealth Is Ordered
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Institution

Federal Reserve System

Also Known As The Fed
Central Banks and Monetary Authorities

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States, established by the Federal Reserve Act, which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law on December 23, 1913. It was created to provide the country with a more stable and elastic currency and banking system after a series of nineteenth and early twentieth century financial panics, including the panic of 1907, exposed the instability of the existing arrangement of independent banks with no central lender of last resort. The Federal Reserve sets monetary policy, supervises and regulates banks, and works to maintain financial stability, and its decisions, particularly around interest rates and the money supply, are a recurring point of disagreement between the economic schools of thought represented in this atlas, from Monetarist arguments about rule bound money growth to Keynesian arguments for active demand management.

Facts
Founding Year
1913 1
Founding Date
1913-12-23 3
Headquarters
Washington, D.C., United States 1
Geography
Country or Jurisdiction Served
United States 2
Wikidata Q53536, property P17 (country).
Classification
Institution Subtype
Central Bank 1
Connections

Associated With

Source Wikipedia

The Federal Reserve is among the member central banks that own and participate in the Bank for International Settlements, the institution that supports cooperation among the world's central banks.

Source Bank for International Settlements (Official Website)
Source The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
Source Wikipedia
Dot-com Bubble, Events

Distinct from this entity''s existing edge to Alan Greenspan the person: this edge names the institution he chaired, whose rate increases are credited in the cited passage with helping burst the bubble.

Source Wikipedia
Paul Volcker, Economists

Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, 1979 to 1987.

Source Wikipedia
Plaza Accord, Events

The accord committed the signatory governments' central banks and treasuries, including the United States, to coordinated foreign exchange market intervention.

Source Wikipedia
Source The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
Source Wikipedia

Founding Event

Source Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Introduction, institution-subtype
Quote, Introduction, institution-subtype
The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States, established by the Federal Reserve Act, which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law on December 23, 1913.
View the Source
2. Wikidata
Wikimedia Foundation
3. Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Federal Reserve
    It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act
  • Founding Event: Founding of the Federal Reserve System
  • Associated With: Volcker Disinflation, Volcker Shock
    The Federal Reserve board led by Volcker raised the federal funds rate, which had averaged 11.2% in 1979, to a peak of 20% in June 1981
  • Associated With: COVID-19 Economic Stimulus, CARES Act
    the largest economic stimulus package in U.S. history
  • Associated With: 2008 Financial Crisis, Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
    Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, September 15, 2008
  • Associated With: Paul Volcker, Paul Volcker, Lead section
    was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987
  • Associated With: Dot-com Bubble, Dot-com bubble, Bursting the bubble section
    Meanwhile, Alan Greenspan, then Chair of the Federal Reserve, raised interest rates several times; these actions were believed by many to have caused the bursting of the dot-com bubble.
  • Associated With: Plaza Accord, Plaza Accord
View the Source
Wikidata: Federal Reserve System
Wikidata Q53536, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
Bank for International Settlements (Official Website)
Bank for International SettlementsAssociated With: Bank for International SettlementsView the Source
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
Palgrave Macmillan
  • Associated With: Central Bank Independence
  • Associated With: Quantitative Easing
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.