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Retrospectives: Economists and the Fed: Beginnings

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  • Perry Mehrling

Abstract

As usually understood, the significant debate over the founding of the Fed was between advocates of the real bills doctrine and advocates of the quantity theory of money. This understanding however conflates two different distinctions: one between the banking principle and the currency principle, and one between self-regulation and active management. It also fails to take seriously both the context of practical experience with the national banking system and the developing practical experience inside the Fed. I propose a new interpretation focused mainly on the contributions of four economists: J. Laurence Laughlin, Irving Fisher, Paul Warburg and Benjamin Strong.

Suggested Citation

  • Perry Mehrling, 2002. "Retrospectives: Economists and the Fed: Beginnings," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 207-218, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:16:y:2002:i:4:p:207-218
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/089533002320951046
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    1. Laidler, David, 1993. "Hawtrey, Harvard, and the Origins of the Chicago Tradition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(6), pages 1068-1103, December.
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    1. Rockoff, Hugh, 2015. "O.M.W. Sprague (the man who “wrote the book” on financial crises) and the founding of the Federal Reserve," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 35-45.
    2. Conti-Brown, Peter, 2020. "Restoring the Promise of Federal Reserve Governance," Working Papers 09999, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    3. Michael D. Bordo & David C. Wheelock, 2010. "The promise and performance of the Federal Reserve as lender of last resort 1914-1933," Working Papers 2010-036, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    4. Myles, Jamieson, 2022. "Trade Acceptances, Financial Reform, and the Culture of Commercial Credit, 1915-1920," Working Papers unige:164262, University of Geneva, Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History.
    5. Singleton,John, 2010. "Central Banking in the Twentieth Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899093, October.
    6. Siklos, Pierre L., 2008. "The Fed's reaction to the stock market during the great depression: Fact or artefact?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 164-184, April.
    7. Rotemberg, Julio J., 2015. "The Federal Reserve׳s abandonment of its 1923 objectives of monetary policy," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 475-493.
    8. Ivo Maes & Rebeca Gomez Betancourt, 2018. "Paul van Zeeland and the First Decade of the US Federal Reserve System: the Analysis from a European Central Banker who was a Student of Kemmerer," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2), pages 5-32.
    9. David Laidler, 2003. "Meltzer's History of the Federal Reserve," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 1256-1271, December.
    10. repec:rim:rimwps:33-07 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Julio J. Rotemberg, 2014. "The Federal Reserve's Abandonment of its 1923 Principles," NBER Working Papers 20507, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Adam, Marc Christopher, 2020. "Liquidating bankers' acceptances: International crisis, doctrinal conflict and American exceptionalism in the Federal Reserve 1913-1932," Discussion Papers 2020/4, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.

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