A proposed bank merger and acquisition (M&A) provides a unique opportunity to address too big to fail concerns—the problem of big banks taking undue risks due to creditors’ perceptions that government policymakers will bail them out to prevent spillovers from bank collapse. Under a...

Testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Washington, D.C.

Testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Washington, D.C.

In 1913, Congress purposefully created the Federal Reserve as an independent central bank, which created a fundamental tension: how to ensure the Fed remains accountable to the electorate without losing its independence. Over the years, there have been changes in the Fed’s structure to improve...

While the goals that guide monetary policy in different countries are very similar, central banks diverge in their methods of implementing policy. This study of the policy frameworks of four central banks—the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Swiss...

Related links: http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/region_focus/2011/q2/around_the_fed_weblinks.cfm

Introductory Remarks for the Panel Discussion Sponsored by the Heller-Hurwicz Economics Institute and the Economic Club of Minnesota at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.