Publisher's Synopsis
The Federal Reserve system was designed, built and operated for years as an agency that forced its policies on American banks. The banks in turn had the power to push around the real economy. Now the Fed finds itself in a world where the banks don't matter much. Markets set interest rates, markets determine liquidity, markets help or hinder the plans of businessmen. Markets are unpredictable, international and worst of all, they have their own information systems which do not follow the rules of banking or bank supervision. The Fed, in response has dramatically reinvented itself in a way not yet understood even by sophisticated investors.
In THE FED, Martin Mayer offers a long-needed look at the new Fed: what it does and doesn't, and must do; how it works, and how it hasn't changed. He brings to the task a unique blend of economic, historical, journalistic, political and personal perspectives. How does the Fed judge market levels? How did it decide when to intervene in the late 1990s boom? How does it judge whether a hot economy will produce inflation or not? At once a brilliant work of analysis and journalism and an invaluable tool for investors, THE FED is the definitive book on one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world.
