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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 central bank a century later. Offering a unique account of Congress's role in steering this evolution, Sarah Binder and Mark Spindel explore the Fed's past, present, and future and challenge the myth of its independence.Binder and Spindel argue that recurring cycles of crisis, blame, and reform propelled lawmakers to create and revamp the powers and governance of the Fed at critical junctures, including the Panic of 1907, the Great Depression, the postwar Treasury-Fed Accord, the inflationary episode of the 1970s, and the recent financial crisis. Marshaling archival sources, interviews, and statistical analyses, the authors pinpoint political and economic dynamics that shaped interactions between the legislature and the Fed, and that have generated a far stronger central bank than anticipated at its founding. The Fed today retains its unique federal style, diluting the ability of lawmakers and the president to completely centralize control of monetary policy.In the long wake of the financial crisis, with economic prospects decidedly subpar, partisan rivals in Congress seem poised to continue battling over the Fed's statutory mandates and the powers given to achieve them. Examining the interdependent relationship between America's Congress and its central bank, The Myth of Independence presents critical insights about the future of monetary and fiscal policies that drive the nation's economy.

United States. --- United States --- Politics and government. --- 1951 Accord. --- Accountability. --- Adobe. --- Amendment. --- Annual report. --- Appointee. --- Audit. --- Balance sheet. --- Bank Holding Company Act. --- Bank run. --- Bank. --- Behalf. --- Ben Bernanke. --- Board of directors. --- Board of governors. --- Bond market. --- Bureau of Labor Statistics. --- Cambridge University Press. --- Central bank. --- Chair of the Federal Reserve. --- Commercial bank. --- Consideration. --- Craig Torres. --- Creditor. --- Criticism. --- Currency. --- Debt. --- Deflation. --- Discount window. --- District Bank. --- Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. --- Dual mandate. --- Dummy variable (statistics). --- Economic growth. --- Economic interventionism. --- Economic policy. --- Economic power. --- Economic recovery. --- Economics. --- Economist. --- Economy of the United States. --- Economy. --- Employment. --- Expense. --- Federal Open Market Committee. --- Federal Reserve Bank. --- Federal Reserve Board of Governors. --- Financial crisis of 2007–08. --- Financial crisis. --- Financial services. --- Fiscal policy. --- Full employment. --- Governance. --- Government Accountability Office. --- Government Security. --- Government bond. --- Government debt. --- Great Recession. --- Ideology. --- Inflation targeting. --- Inflation. --- Institution. --- Interest rate. --- Investor. --- Legislation. --- Legislator. --- Legislature. --- Lehman Brothers. --- Lender of last resort. --- Monetary authority. --- Monetary policy. --- Money supply. --- Money. --- Open market operation. --- Policy. --- Politician. --- Politics. --- Provision (accounting). --- Provision (contracting). --- Quantitative easing. --- Recession. --- Republican Congress. --- Requirement. --- Reserve requirement. --- Slowdown. --- Southern Democrats. --- Stagflation. --- Statute. --- Stock market. --- Supply (economics). --- Tax. --- The New York Times. --- The Wall Street Journal. --- Tight Monetary Policy. --- Trade-off. --- Unemployment. --- United States Department of the Treasury. --- United States Treasury security. --- Voting. --- World War II.