Biographical Dictionary of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

(Hardback)

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With the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the United States formally established a middle ground between the competing forces of the bankers' need for private control and the populist call for governmental oversight. But despite its role as the nation's only centralized banking authority, and its importance as a decision-making body, the Federal Reserve as an institution has always been fiercely protective of its own independence. In this work, Bernard Katz sheds light on this important arm of the government, by profiling each member of the board of governors from the inception of the Federal Reserve in 1914 through January 1991. Katz's work begins with a preface and introduction that detail the creation of the Federal Reserve and the role played by the board of governors within the organization. Sixty-seven biographical sketches then profile each of the board's chairmen and vice-chairmen, providing detailed information on their backgrounds, training, politics, and even the pettiness and insecurities of their lives. Each contributor also chronicles the economic issues that surrounded each board member's tenure, as well as controversies within the board and the relationships and debates with specific presidents and administrations. This unique reference work will be a major addition to both public and academic libraries, and a valuable resource for students of the Federal Reserve system, monetary policy, and money and banking.

Reviews

The biographies of the 70 members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve appointed from 1914 through May 1990 are arranged in alphabetical order. There is no table of contents, but there is an index. The biographies, which range in length from 2 to 18 pages, were written by 41 contributors, who are mostly professors of finance or economics. The content varies from purely biographical accounts to entries also including additional comments and quotations from hearings statements, speeches, and articles of the biographees. A bibliography of the sources for the biographical information appears at the end of each biography. Some contributors listed the biographee or the Federal Reserve Board as one of the sources of information. Of value to any library needing a quick reference to such biographical information.-Choice
The dictionary fulfills its purpose sufficiently well to warrant a recommendation for purchase by business and economics collections.-ARBA
The sixty-nine men who since its first members were appointed in 1914 have served or currently serve as governors of the Federal Reserve are no longer archetypal "faceless bureaucrats" thanks to this comprehensive biographical dictionary. Forty-one academics in economics and finance have contributed the profiles of the government officials who have as much to say as the marketplace itself about the interest rates that banks and consumers will pay on loans of many types. Entries range from two pages, for members who served their terms without attaining a high public profile (e.g., Wayland Wells Magee), to twenty pages, for those chairmen (e.g., William McChesney Martin, Jr.) who have given the Fed a clearly discernible institutional character. The biographies focus on their subjects' government service and business or academic endeavors but also note educational background and personal facts, such as marriages. They also trace the political, social, and economic environments in which the Fed functioned during the members' service. All Fed Board nominees must receive Senate confirmation; yet, few of the bibliographies cite the governor's confirmation hearings! The lack of a chronological table of governors noting dates of service, such as one finds as an appendix in Carl Moore's The Federal Reserve System (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990), is unfortunate. Despite these shortcomings the bottom line reveals a balance decidedly in the dictionary's favor as a source of insightful, analytical biographies of the members of this select, influential body.-Wilson Library Bulletin
"The biographies of the 70 members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve appointed from 1914 through May 1990 are arranged in alphabetical order. There is no table of contents, but there is an index. The biographies, which range in length from 2 to 18 pages, were written by 41 contributors, who are mostly professors of finance or economics. The content varies from purely biographical accounts to entries also including additional comments and quotations from hearings statements, speeches, and articles of the biographees. A bibliography of the sources for the biographical information appears at the end of each biography. Some contributors listed the biographee or the Federal Reserve Board as one of the sources of information. Of value to any library needing a quick reference to such biographical information."-Choice
"The dictionary fulfills its purpose sufficiently well to warrant a recommendation for purchase by business and economics collections."-ARBA
"The sixty-nine men who since its first members were appointed in 1914 have served or currently serve as governors of the Federal Reserve are no longer archetypal "faceless bureaucrats" thanks to this comprehensive biographical dictionary. Forty-one academics in economics and finance have contributed the profiles of the government officials who have as much to say as the marketplace itself about the interest rates that banks and consumers will pay on loans of many types. Entries range from two pages, for members who served their terms without attaining a high public profile (e.g., Wayland Wells Magee), to twenty pages, for those chairmen (e.g., William McChesney Martin, Jr.) who have given the Fed a clearly discernible institutional character. The biographies focus on their subjects' government service and business or academic endeavors but also note educational background and personal facts, such as marriages. They also trace the political, social, and economic environments in which the Fed functioned during the members' service. All Fed Board nominees must receive Senate confirmation; yet, few of the bibliographies cite the governor's confirmation hearings! The lack of a chronological table of governors noting dates of service, such as one finds as an appendix in Carl Moore's The Federal Reserve System (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990), is unfortunate. Despite these shortcomings the bottom line reveals a balance decidedly in the dictionary's favor as a source of insightful, analytical biographies of the members of this select, influential body."-Wilson Library Bulletin

Author Bio

BERNARD S. KATZ is Associate Professor of Economics and Business at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He has authored and edited a variety of articles on finance and economics, as well as the book Biographical Dictionary of the Council of Economic Advisors (Greenwood Press, 1988, co-edited with Robert Sobel). He is working on three forthcoming books from Praeger, Oil in the '80s: A Decade of Decline, Economic Transformation of Eastern Europe, and Investment in Africa.