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The bailouts during the recent financial crisis enraged the public. They felt unfair—and counterproductive: people who take risks must be allowed to fail. If we reward firms that make irresponsible investments, costing taxpayers billions of dollars, aren’t we encouraging them to continue to act irresponsibly, setting the stage for future crises? And beyond the ethics of it was the question of whether the government even had the authority to bail out failing firms like Bear Stearns and AIG. The answer, according to Eric A. Posner, is no. The federal government freely and frequently violated the law with the bailouts—but it did so in the public interest. An understandable lack of sympathy toward Wall Street has obscured the fact that bailouts have happened throughout economic history and are unavoidable in any modern, market-based economy. And they’re actually good. Contrary to popular belief, the financial system cannot operate properly unless the government stands ready to bail out banks and other firms. During the recent crisis, Posner agues, the law didn’t give federal agencies sufficient power to rescue the financial system. The legal constraints were damaging, but harm was limited because the agencies—with a few exceptions—violated or improvised elaborate evasions of the law. Yet the agencies also abused their power. If illegal actions were what it took to advance the public interest, Posner argues, we ought to change the law, but we need to do so in a way that also prevents agencies from misusing their authority. In the aftermath of the crisis, confusion about what agencies did do, should have done, and were allowed to do, has prevented a clear and realistic assessment and may hamper our response to future crises. Taking up the common objections raised by both right and left, Posner argues that future bailouts will occur. Acknowledging that inevitability, we can and must look ahead and carefully assess our policy options before we need them.

Intervention (Federal government) --- Financial crises --- Bailouts (Government policy) --- Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009. --- Federal Reserve. --- bailout. --- due process. --- financial crisis. --- law. --- takings.

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The independence of the Federal Reserve is considered a cornerstone of its identity, crucial for keeping monetary policy decisions free of electoral politics. But do we really understand what is meant by "Federal Reserve independence"? Using scores of examples from the Fed's rich history, The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve shows that much common wisdom about the nation's central bank is inaccurate. Legal scholar and financial historian Peter Conti-Brown provides an in-depth look at the Fed's place in government, its internal governance structure, and its relationships to such individuals and groups as the president, Congress, economists, and bankers.Exploring how the Fed regulates the global economy and handles its own internal politics, and how the law does-and does not-define the Fed's power, Conti-Brown captures and clarifies the central bank's defining complexities. He examines the foundations of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which established a system of central banks, and the ways that subsequent generations have redefined the organization. Challenging the notion that the Fed Chair controls the organization as an all-powerful technocrat, he explains how institutions and individuals-within and outside of government-shape Fed policy. Conti-Brown demonstrates that the evolving mission of the Fed-including systemic risk regulation, wider bank supervision, and as a guardian against inflation and deflation-requires a reevaluation of the very way the nation's central bank is structured.Investigating how the Fed influences and is influenced by ideologies, personalities, law, and history, The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve offers a uniquely clear and timely picture of one of the most important institutions in the United States and the world.

Monetary policy --- Banks and banking, Central --- Federal Reserve banks. --- United States. --- United States --- Economic policy. --- Accountability. --- Accounting. --- Alan Greenspan. --- Appointee. --- Asset. --- Bailiwick. --- Bailout. --- Balance sheet. --- Bank holding company. --- Bank of England. --- Bank regulation. --- Bank. --- Banking in the United States. --- Behalf. --- Ben Bernanke. --- Bill Clinton. --- Board of directors. --- Board of governors. --- Bureaucrat. --- Carter Glass. --- Central bank. --- Chair of the Federal Reserve. --- Chairman. --- Commercial bank. --- Conspiracy theory. --- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. --- Consumer. --- Council of Economic Advisers. --- Creditor. --- Currency. --- Debt. --- Dividend. --- Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. --- Economics. --- Economist. --- Economy. --- Employment. --- Expense. --- Federal Open Market Committee. --- Federal Reserve Bank of New York. --- Federal Reserve Bank. --- Federal Reserve Board of Governors. --- Federal Reserve Note. --- Financial Regulator. --- Financial crisis of 2007–08. --- Financial crisis. --- Financial institution. --- Financial regulation. --- Financial services. --- Fiscal policy. --- Funding. --- General counsel. --- Glass–Steagall Legislation. --- Governance. --- Government agency. --- Government bond. --- Government debt. --- Ideology. --- Income. --- Inflation. --- Insider. --- Institution. --- Interest rate. --- J. P. Morgan. --- Legislation. --- Lehman Brothers. --- Lender of last resort. --- Macroeconomics. --- Market liquidity. --- Market participant. --- Member of Congress. --- Milton Friedman. --- Monetarism. --- Monetary authority. --- Monetary policy. --- Money supply. --- Open market operation. --- Paul Volcker. --- Policy. --- Political science. --- Politician. --- Politics. --- Private bank. --- Provision (accounting). --- Publication. --- Real bills doctrine. --- Recession. --- Regulation. --- Regulatory agency. --- Salary. --- Statute. --- Supervisor. --- Timothy Geithner. --- United States Department of the Treasury. --- Vetting. --- Walter Bagehot. --- William McChesney Martin. --- Woodrow Wilson. --- World economy.