Question Everything. Learn Something. Answer Nothing. TBL Weekly #163
Dear Readers,
We’d like to believe that we, bitcoiners, pride ourselves on being Mavericks. Not afraid to be the contrarians, willing to play the devil’s advocate on just about anything. Our demographic consists of a wide range of experts: from critical thinkers well-versed in Keynesian and Austrian economic schools of thought, all the way to astrophysicists. You could call us philosophers. We “Question Everything. Learn Something. Answer Nothing.” A quote from Euripides, a Greek Tragedian.
The one thing that binds all bitcoiners together is our understanding of money. Or, better put, our epiphanic realization of our lack of understanding of it. But we study money and learn more about it every day.
It is within that ever-receding pocket of monetary ignorance in which The Bitcoin Layer lives. In other words, our purpose here at TBL is to try our best to educate others on the intricacies built within today’s complex financial system.
Upon some long weekend readings, it dawned on us that, although many like to talk about the Federal Reserve, not a lot of people know who actually runs the Fed. What is the makeup of this highly talked-about institution?
We are going to make an educated guess and say that the majority of Americans know the President and his administration, but not a lot know monetary policy makers, arguably just as important.
So, in today’s article, we will get to know the ‘admin’ of the Central Bank of the United States. And, as we approach December, we will take a closer look at the two sides of the Fed’s dual mandate: employment and inflation.
So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
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The Central Bank of the US
The Federal Reserve System has three entities:
1. The Board of Governors
An independent government agency that oversees the operations of the Reserve Banks across the US. There are seven board members nominated by the President:
Jerome Powell, Chair
Philip Jefferson, Vice Chair
Michelle Bowman, Vice Chair
Michael Barr
Lisa Cook
Stephen Miran
Christopher Waller
2. The Reserve Banks
There are 12 Reserve Banks across the US, each one covering its own individual region (chart below):
Here is where each region is headquartered, alongside its President:
Boston: Susan M. Collins
New York: John Williams
Philadelphia: Anna Paulson
Cleveland: Beth Hammack
Richmond: Thomas Barkin
Atlanta: Raphael Bostic
Chicago: Austan Goolsbee
St. Louis: Alberto Musalem
Minneapolis: Neel Kashkari
Kansas City: Jeffery Schmid
Dallas: Lorie Logan
San Francisco: Mary Daly
3. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
Lastly, the FOMC, which combines both of the aforementioned entities, and whose members vote on things like the target range of the Federal Funds rate. This committee is made up of 12 individuals: