Federal Reserve System

The Eccles building in Washington, D.C. is the headquarters of the Board of governors of the Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of The United States. It is also known as The Federal Reserve, or more informally as The Fed. The current chairman of the Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve's leader is Ben Bernanke.

Organization

The Federal Reserve is an independent agency of the United States federal government. Congress has a supervising role, but does not interfere on a daily basis. The chairman of the Federal Reserve is reporting to Congress biannually, but it is usually working closer with The Department of the Treasury and the president. Even though The Fed has an independent status, its independence might be revoked by Congress if Congress wishes to.

The Federal Reserve System is divided into twelve districts, each district having one central bank. This unique system came as a compromise between those who wanted a strong, federal central bank and those who wanted to continue with the decentralized system in place before 1913.

History

File:Fist bank.jpg

The First Bank of the United States. Philadelpha, PA

References

Citations