A primary purpose of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was to prevent banking panics by establishing the Federal Reserve System to function as a lender of last resort. Other types of financial crisis require a similar response, however, and the Federal Reserve has repeatedly used its capacity to...

"The Importance of Being Predictable" by John B. Taylor -- "Monetary Policy Under Uncertainty" by Ben S. Bernanke -- "The Importance of Being Predictable" by William Poole

This article was originally presented as a speech at the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C., October 14, 2005.