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Who Runs the Federal Reserve?
You should realize that the Federal reserve has a great deal of control over your economic life. Through its control of the money supply, the Fed can pump up the economy and create a "boom" or it can slow down the economy and create a recession. The Fed can push interest rates up, or it can bring them down, at least in the short run.
Like most countries, the US has a central bank. But the Federal Reserve System - the Fed - is composed of 12 separate banks, governed by a seven-member Board of Governors. It was established by Congress in 1913 to stabilize what at the time was a chaotic financial system.
The Fed is privately owned by banks. Under the direction of its Chairman (currently Alan Greenspan,) it sets economic policy, supervises banking operations, and has become a major factor in shaping our economy.
To find out more about the Federal Reserve, please visit The Federal Reserve Outline - Structure and Functions, a site that I created outside of this page.
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