The Fed Is a Purely Political Institution, and It’s Definitely Not a Bank

[Manuel Tavares]

The Fed Is a Purely Political Institution, and It’s Definitely Not a Bank
Posted on 01/17/2023 by EraOfLight —
https://eraoflight.com/2023/01/17/the-fed-is-a-purely-political-institution-and-its-definitely-not-a-bank/

Posted here by http://achama.biz.ly/english/

Those who know Wall Street lore sometimes recall that Fed chairman William Miller—Paul Volcker’s immediate predecessor—joked that most Americans believed the Federal Reserve was either an Indian reservation, a wildlife preserve, or a brand of whiskey.

The Fed, of course, is none of those things, but there’s also one other thing the Federal Reserve is not: an actual bank. It is simply a government agency that does bank-like things.

It’s easy to see why many people might think it is a bank. “Bank” is right there in the name of the twelve regional banks that make up the system: for example, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The Fed also enjoys many titles that make it sound like a bank. It’s sometimes called the “lender of last resort.” Or it is sometimes called “a banker’s bank.” Moreover, many people often call the Fed “the central bank.” That phrase is useful enough, but not quite true....+ https://eraoflight.com/2023/01/17/the-fed-is-a-purely-political-institution-and-its-definitely-not-a-bank/