The Federal Reserve System: An Encyclopedia

(Hardback)

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Description

The Federal Reserve System, founded in 1913, is recognized as one of the most influential policy-making bodies in the United States. Its duties including managing the country's monetary policy, regulating and supervising banks, and monitoring the financial system, set it apart from other government agencies. Hafer provides a comprehensive explanation of the Federal Reserve System, describing its structure and process, policies, people, and key events. Arranged alphabetically, over 250 entries define and describe topics related to the Fed and United States monetary policy, including Alan Greenspan, Black Monday of 1929, Euro, Federal Reserve Act of 1913, Prime rate, and Treasury financing. Numerous appendices supplement the A-to- Z entries, providing insight into the secretive and powerful Federal Reserve Bank, the keepers of America's monetary system.

Reviews

This encyclopedia's contents range across Federal Reserve operations and how monetary policy functions in the United States. Hafer includes entries on topics that affect how monetary policy is conducted, such as real business cycle theory. Similar entries are tied to monetary policy, regulatory oversight duties, or how the Federal Reserve System operates. The author presents complex economic and monetary issues or concepts in terms understandable to the general reader, and the introduction provides an historical overview of the system's development.[c]ould easily serve as the sole resource for school libraries (particularly elementary and intermediate schools) and small public libraries. Highly recommended. Academic libraries serving first- and second-year students, and general readers; public and school libraries. * Choice *
Hafer's enthusiastic interest in the Federal Reserve and central banking in general is the key ingredient in making this volume successful. He has also done an admirable job of making the information accessible to non-specialists without sacrificing detail that will appeal to specialists. The Federal Reserve System: An Encyclopedia is a very useful reference volume and is recommended for academic and public research libraries, particularly those with concentrations in economics, business, and political science. * Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship *
Whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to control inflation has recently been of concern to consumers and professionals. This encyclopedia puts the issue into perspective as it explains how the Federal Reserve operates and how its monetary policy functions.Reference librarians will find the topical list of entries useful, as well as the extensive index. College students and the general reader will find this a valuable source to explain topics that will continue to be headline news. * Reference & User Services Quarterly *
[A] solid accomplishment as it provides clear and accessible expositions on a wide variety of topics related to the Federal Reserve System.[H]afer has succeeded in creating a concise, coherent, eminently readable introduction to the Federal Reserve System.[i]t will undoubtedly prove helpful to students and interested laypersons. Instructors, particularly those teaching Money and Banking or Macroeconomics, will likely find the volume useful in their courses and I also expect that instructors teaching economic or financial history will find ways to utilize the book in their classes. College libraries should add the Encyclopedia to their collections. High-school and public libraries would also benefit their readers by putting a copy the book on their shelves. * EH.NET *
Hafers guide will serve students and lay readers as a handy, first-stop source. * Lawrence Looks at Books *
Providing introductory material suitable for the college and adult user, The Federal Reserve System is recommended for comprehensive collections. * Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin *

Author Bio

R. W. Hafer is Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics and Finance at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He served as Research Officer with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for ten years. He has published widely on monetary policy and financial markets in publications including the Wall Street Journal.