There has been discussion regarding the public/private status of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. I am interested to learn how this idea is perceived in this community. If you think I have the question wrong please feel free to re-frame the question.
Full disclosure: I am of the personal opinion that the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank operates effectively as a privately owned bank.
It is a little bit of both. The Federal Reserve has a Board of Governors who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Actually, that's a false flag. The president does appoint the board members, but can only choose them from a very short list provided by the sitting board itself. He cannot, for example, choose his favorite econ professor. As for the Senate, they can only vote yes or no; and if they vote no, then the President must go back to that same list.
What is your source on that claim? Also, that brings up the question, who decides who is on the list?
From the Fed's own site...
"As stipulated in the Banking Act of 1935, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board are chosen by the President from
among the sitting Governors (emphasis mine) and must be confirmed by the Senate. They serve terms of four years and may be reappointed as Chairman or Vice Chairman until their terms as Governors expire. The Chairman serves as public spokesperson and representative of the Board and manager of the Board's staff and presides at Board meetings. Affirming the apolitical nature of the Board, recent Presidents representing both major political parties have selected the same person as Board Chairman."
http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqbog.htmGranted, it's all kind of circular. The sitting president can appoint board members from within the Federal Reserve structure itself, but the law of averages says that no sitting president can ever appoint a majority of board members until late in a second term. So no president can ever 'pack' the board, which has it's value, but it also means that the board is functionally unaccountable to the president or the senate. Also, who decides who works for the fed? The banks that are members of the federal reserve system do, not the president. It's next to impossible to find any documentation about the "from within our own ranks" rule explicitly stated, but there has never been an appointment to the board from outside of the federal reserve system itself since initial board appointed in 1914.
Here is the list...
http://www.federalreserve.gov/bios/boardmembership.htmIf you can find an exception after 1928, feel free to shoot me down.
