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[[Image:Federal Reserve.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC.]]
[[Image:Federal Reserve.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC.]]
The '''Federal Reserve''' (also known as '''The Fed''') is a central banking system that controls the monetary system of the [[United States]]. Although it acts with the authority of the [[government]], the Federal Reserve is not an official government agency. It was established by the Federal Reserve Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by [[President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] in 1913. Although the [[Constitution]] says that only Congress has the authority to "coin money", the Federal Reserve issues fiat currency that is not based on the original [[gold standard]].<ref>http://www.federalreserve.gov/</ref> The Federal Reserve is headed by a Board of Governors and a Chairman. The current Chairman is [[Ben Bernanke]]; his predecessor was [[Alan Greenspan]].
The '''Federal Reserve''' (also known as '''The Fed''') is a central banking system that controls the monetary system of the [[United States]]. Although it acts with the authority of the [[government]], the Federal Reserve is not an official government agency. It was established by the Federal Reserve Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by [[President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] in 1913. The Federal Reserve is headed by a Board of Governors and a Chairman. The current Chairman is [[Ben Bernanke]], a Republican appointed by President [[George W. Bush]]; his predecessor was [[Alan Greenspan]], a Republican appointed by President [[Ronald Reagan]].
One job of the Federal Reserve is to control [[inflation]] by regulating the [[free market]].<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20070818201731/http://www.peterjaworski.com/Friedman</ref> One of its main functions is to set the amount of money that banks must keep in reserve and to set the interest rates for money it lends to banks.
One job of the Federal Reserve is to control [[inflation]] by regulating the [[free market]].<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20070818201731/http://www.peterjaworski.com/Friedman</ref> One of its main functions is to set the amount of money that banks must keep in reserve and to set the interest rates for money it lends to banks.
Federal Reserve banks are located in [[Boston]], [[New York]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Cleveland]], [[Richmond]], [[Atlanta]], [[Chicago]], [[Kansas City]], [[St. Louis]], [[Minneapolis]], [[Dallas]], and [[San Francisco]].
Federal Reserve banks are located in [[Boston]], [[New York]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Cleveland]], [[Richmond]], [[Atlanta]], [[Chicago]], [[Kansas City]], [[St. Louis]], [[Minneapolis]], [[Dallas]], and [[San Francisco]].
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==Recent==
* Epstein, Lita & Martin, Preston (2003). ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Federal Reserve''. ISBN 0-02-864323-2. [http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Federal-Reserve/dp/0028643232/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212812900&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Greenspan, Alan. '' The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World'' (2007), memoirs covering his chairmanship 1987-2006 [http://www.amazon.com/Age-Turbulence-Adventures-New-World/dp/1594201315/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212812097&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Greider, William, ''Secrets of the Temple''. (1987). ISBN 0-671-67556-7; nontechnical book explaining the structures, functions, and history of the Federal Reserve, focusing specifically on the tenure of [[Paul Volcker]]
* Hafer, R. W. ''The Federal Reserve System: An Encyclopedia''. (2005). 451 pp, 280 entries; ISBN 4-313-32839-0.
* Meyer, Lawrence H. ''A Term at the Fed: An Insider's View''. (2004) ISBN 0-06-054270-5; focuses on the period from 1996 to 2002, emphasizing Alan Greenspan's chairmanship during the Asian financial crisis, the stock market boom and the [[9-11 Attacks]]
* Treaster, Joseph B. ''Paul Volcker: The Making of a Financial Legend'' (2004), chairman 1979-87 [http://www.questia.com/read/106757179?title=Paul%20Volcker%3a%20%20The%20Making%20of%20a%20Financial%20Legend online edition]
* Tuccille, Jerome. ''Alan Shrugged: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan, the World's Most Powerful Banker'' (2002) [http://www.questia.com/read/106268651?title=Alan%20Shrugged%3a%20%20The%20Life%20and%20Times%20of%20Alan%20Greenspan%2c%20the%20World's%20Most%20Powerful%20Banker online edition]
* Wells, Donald R. ''The Federal Reserve System: A History'' (2004)
* Woodward, Bob. ''Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom'' (2000) study of Greenspan in 1990s.
==Historical==
* Broz, J. Lawrence. ''The International Origins of the Federal Reserve System'' (1997). [http://www.questia.com/read/103752688?title=The%20International%20Origins%20of%20the%20Federal%20Reserve%20System online edition]
* Carosso, Vincent P. "The Wall Street Trust from Pujo through Medina", ''Business History Review'' (1973) 47:421-37
* Chandler, Lester V. ''American Monetary Policy, 1928-41.'' (1971).
* Epstein, Gerald and Thomas Ferguson. "Monetary Policy, Loan Liquidation and Industrial Conflict: Federal Reserve System Open Market Operations in 1932." ''Journal of Economic History'' 44 (December 1984): 957-84. in JSTOR
* Friedman, Milton, and Anna Jacobson Schwartz. ''A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960'' (1963)
* Hetzel, Robert L. ''The Monetary Policy of the Federal Reserve: A History'' (2008) from 1913 to 2007; [http://www.amazon.com/Monetary-Policy-Federal-Reserve-Macroeconomic/dp/0521881323/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212812672&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Kubik, Paul J. , "Federal Reserve Policy during the Great Depression: The Impact of Interwar Attitudes regarding Consumption and Consumer Credit." ''Journal of Economic Issues'' . 30#3. 1996. pp 829+.
* Link, Arthur. ''Wilson: The New Freedom'' (1956) pp 199-240.
* Livingston, James. ''Origins of the Federal Reserve System: Money, Class, and Corporate Capitalism, 1890-1913'' (1986), Marxist approach to 1913 policy
* Mayhew, Anne. "Ideology and the Great Depression: Monetary History Rewritten." ''Journal of Economic Issues'' 17 (June 1983): 353-60.
* Meltzer, Allan H. ''A History of the Federal Reserve, Volume 1: 1913-1951'' (2004) the standard scholarly history [http://www.amazon.com/History-Federal-Reserve-1913-1951/dp/0226520005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212812672&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Roberts, Priscilla. "'Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?' The Federal Reserve System's Founding Fathers and Allied Finances in the First World War", ''Business History Review'' (1998) 72: 585-603
* Romer, Christina D. and David H. Romer. ''Choosing the Federal Reserve Chair: Lessons from History''. ''The Journal of Economic Perspectives,'' Vol. 18, No. 1. (2004), pp. 129-162. ([http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0895-3309%282004%2918%3A1%3C129%3ACTFRCL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I jstor])
* Schull, Bernard. "The Fourth Branch: The Federal Reserve's Unlikely Rise to Power and Influence" (2005) ISBN 1-56720-624-7 [http://www.questia.com/read/113203394?title=The%20Fourth%20Branch%3a%20%20The%20Federal%20Reserve's%20Unlikely%20Rise%20to%20Power%20and%20Influence online edition]
* Steindl, Frank G. ''Monetary Interpretations of the Great Depression.'' (1995).
* West, Robert Craig. ''Banking Reform and the Federal Reserve, 1863-1923'' (1977)
* Wicker, Elmus R. "A Reconsideration of Federal Reserve Policy during the 1920-1921 Depression", ''Journal of Economic History'' (1966) 26: 223-238, in JSTOR
* Wicker, Elmus. ''Federal Reserve Monetary Policy, 1917-33.'' (1966).
* Wells, Donald R. ''The Federal Reserve System: A History'' (2004)
* Wicker, Elmus. ''The Great Debate on Banking Reform: Nelson Aldrich and the Origins of the Fed'' (2005).
* Wood, John H. ''A History of Central Banking in Great Britain and the United States'' (2005)
* Wueschner; Silvano A. ''Charting Twentieth-Century Monetary Policy: Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Strong, 1917-1927'' (1999)
==References==
==References==
==External Links==
==External Links==
:[http://www.federalreserve.gov/ Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System]
:[http://www.federalreserve.gov/ Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System]
[[category:United States]]
[[category:Finance]]
[[category:Progressive Era]]
[[category:United States History]]
[[category:Economic History]]