Monetary politics -- The blame game -- Creating the Federal Reserve -- Opening the act in the wake of the Depression -- Midcentury modern central banking -- The great inflation and the limits of independence -- The only game in town -- The myth of independence

Born out of crisis a century ago, the Federal Reserve has become the most powerful macroeconomic policymaker and financial regulator in the world. The Myth of Independence traces the Fed’s transformation from a weak, secretive, and decentralized institution in 1913 to a remarkably transparent...