More than the Human Appendix: Fed Capital and Central Bank Financial Independence

38 Pages Posted: 8 Oct 2016

See all articles by Donato Masciandaro

Donato Masciandaro

Bocconi University - Department of Economics; Bocconi University - Department of Economics (ECO)

Date Written: September 2016

Abstract

In 2002 in reviewing the role of the Federal Reserve System (FED) the United States General Accounting Office declared that "We found no widely accepted, analytically based criteria to show whether a central bank needs capital as a cushion against losses or how the level of such an account should be determined"; the FED capital has become somewhat like the human appendix, an organ whose function is no longer understood (Stella 2009). Is it still true? These short notes address the issue, using a Q&A exposition and taking the occasion the fact that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), has been asked by members of the Congress to study the implications of a recent dividend rate change for Federal Reserve Bank stock and the implications of modifying or eliminating the existing requirement that all member banks purchase stock issued by their respective Federal Reserve Bank.

Keywords: Federal Reserve System, Central Bank Independence, Central Bank Capital, Global Crisis

JEL Classification: E42, E58, E61

Suggested Citation

Masciandaro, Donato, More than the Human Appendix: Fed Capital and Central Bank Financial Independence (September 2016). BAFFI CAREFIN Centre Research Paper No. 2016-35, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2849361 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2849361

Donato Masciandaro (Contact Author)

Bocconi University - Department of Economics ( email )

Via Gobbi 5
Milan, 20136
Italy

Bocconi University - Department of Economics (ECO) ( email )

Via Gobbi 5
Milan, 20136
Italy

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