One Soldiers Story or A History of the Federal Reserve

One Soldier's Story: A Memoir

Author: Bob Dol

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A History of the Federal Reserve: 1913-1951, Vol. 1

Author: Allan H Meltzer

Allan H. Meltzer's monumental history of the Federal Reserve System tells the story of one of America's most influential but least understood public institutions. This first volume covers the period from the Federal Reserve's founding in 1913 through the Treasury-Federal Reserve Accord of 1951, which marked the beginning of a larger and greatly changed institution.
To understand why the Federal Reserve acted as it did at key points in its history, Meltzer draws on meeting minutes, correspondence, and other internal documents (many made public only during the 1970s) to trace the reasoning behind its policy decisions. He explains, for instance, why the Federal Reserve remained passive throughout most of the economic decline that led to the Great Depression, and how the Board's actions helped to produce the deep recession of 1937 and 1938. He also highlights the impact on the institution of individuals such as Benjamin Strong, governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the 1920s, who played a key role in the adoption of a more active monetary policy by the Federal Reserve. Meltzer also examines the influence the Federal Reserve has had on international affairs, from attempts to build a new international financial system in the 1920s to the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 that established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and the failure of the London Economic Conference of 1933.
Written by one of the world's leading economists, this magisterial biography of the Federal Reserve and the people who helped shape it will interest economists, central bankers, historians, political scientists, policymakers, and anyone seeking a deep understanding of theinstitution that controls America's purse strings.
"It was 'an unprecedented orgy of extravagance, a mania for speculation, overextended business in nearly all lines and in every section of the country.' An Alan Greenspan rumination about the irrational exuberance of the late 1990s? Try the 1920 annual report of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve. . . . To understand why the Fed acted as it did—at these critical moments and many others—would require years of study, poring over letters, the minutes of meetings and internal Fed documents. Such a task would naturally deter most scholars of economic history but not, thank goodness, Allan Meltzer."—Wall Street Journal

"A seminal work that anyone interested in the inner workings of the U. S. central bank should read. A work that scholars will mine for years to come."—John M. Berry, Washington Post
"An exceptionally clear story about why, as the ideas that actually informed policy evolved, things sometimes went well and sometimes went badly. . . . One can only hope that we do not have to wait too long for the second installment."—David Laidler, Journal of Economic Literature

"A thorough narrative history of a high order. Meltzer's analysis is persuasive and acute. His work will stand for a generation as the benchmark history of the world's most powerful economic institution. It is an impressive, even awe-inspiring achievement."—Sir Howard Davies, Times Higher Education Supplement

Library Journal

Meltzer (political economy and public policy, Carnegie Mellon Univ.) provides a definitive history of the U.S. Federal Reserve from its founding in 1913 to its establishment as a separate, independent entity in 1951. Using meeting minutes, correspondence, and internal Federal Reserve documents, he traces the reasons behind Federal Reserves policy decisions, highlights the impact that individuals and events had on the Fed, and examines the Fed's influence on international affairs. Starting with the works of Henry Thornton, Walter Bagehot, and Irving Fisher, he discusses the European origins of the model for the Fed; its transition from a passive to an active role in setting monetary policy; the supportive role it assumed during World Wars I and II; the impact of the 1927-29 stock market boom, the Great Depression, and the recessions of 1920-21, 1937-38, and 1947-48; and the key events that led to the Fed's independence in 1951. Also useful is the description of the key roles that Woodrow Wilson, Carter Glass, Benjamin Strong, Marriner S. Eccles, and Allan Sproul played in the development of the system. This well-written and thoroughgoing account is recommended for academic, business, and public libraries.-Norm Hutcherson, California State Univ. Lib., Bakersfield Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Table of Contents:

	Foreword
	Preface
1	Introduction	1
2	Central Banking Theory and Practice before the Federal Reserve Act	19
3	In the Beginning, 1914 to 1922	65
4	New Procedures, New Problems, 1923 to 1929	137
5	Why Did Monetary Policy Fail in the Thirties?	271
6	In the Backseat, 1933 to 1941	415
7	Under Treasury Control, 1942 to 1951	579
8	Conclusion: The First Thirty-seven Years	725
	References	747
	Data Sources	761
	Index	765