Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy
Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy is a deep dive into the fifty-year history of the Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC), a group of private academic economists that acts as the Federal Reserve’s outside watchdogs, providing candid, economically grounded critiques of the Fed’s conduct of policy. The volume, based on a two-day symposium held at the Hoover Institution October 13–14, 2024, examines the evolution of the Fed’s monetary and credit policies and critical issues it faces today.

Contributors discuss how the SOMC evolved in its approach to monetary policy—from a strong emphasis on controlling the money supply to rein in the high and variable inflation of the 1970s, to a broader focus on rules-based policies as the best strategy to avoid major policy mistakes and maintain a credible monetary policy. The SOMC has also critiqued the rising frequency of Fed interventions in credit markets, including its participation in rescuing failing banks. Readers will find thought-provoking analyses from leading monetary economists, including rigorous discussions about rules versus discretion and assessments of the Taylor rule, a key policymaking tool.

Chapters by leading economic and financial scholars address many of the pressing central bank policy issues of today, including the Fed’s evolving interpretation of its dual mandate (price stability and maximum employment), the expanded role of the Fed in financial markets and the effect on policymaking, the implications of its enlarged balance sheet, and fiscal-monetary policy interactions. An lively discussion among former leading Fed members on outside influences sheds light on factors that affected some of their crucial decisions.

In an environment where the Federal Reserve can significantly affect economic performance, the scholarly contributors to this book emphasize the importance of rules-based monetary policy focused on price stability as the Fed’s best contribution to healthy economic growth and maximum employment, and of credible and predictable credit market policy as supporting financial stability. For those committed to understanding the most important issues facing the Fed and the contributions of the SOMC to the monetary policy debate, this volume serves as an essential resource.

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Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy
Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy is a deep dive into the fifty-year history of the Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC), a group of private academic economists that acts as the Federal Reserve’s outside watchdogs, providing candid, economically grounded critiques of the Fed’s conduct of policy. The volume, based on a two-day symposium held at the Hoover Institution October 13–14, 2024, examines the evolution of the Fed’s monetary and credit policies and critical issues it faces today.

Contributors discuss how the SOMC evolved in its approach to monetary policy—from a strong emphasis on controlling the money supply to rein in the high and variable inflation of the 1970s, to a broader focus on rules-based policies as the best strategy to avoid major policy mistakes and maintain a credible monetary policy. The SOMC has also critiqued the rising frequency of Fed interventions in credit markets, including its participation in rescuing failing banks. Readers will find thought-provoking analyses from leading monetary economists, including rigorous discussions about rules versus discretion and assessments of the Taylor rule, a key policymaking tool.

Chapters by leading economic and financial scholars address many of the pressing central bank policy issues of today, including the Fed’s evolving interpretation of its dual mandate (price stability and maximum employment), the expanded role of the Fed in financial markets and the effect on policymaking, the implications of its enlarged balance sheet, and fiscal-monetary policy interactions. An lively discussion among former leading Fed members on outside influences sheds light on factors that affected some of their crucial decisions.

In an environment where the Federal Reserve can significantly affect economic performance, the scholarly contributors to this book emphasize the importance of rules-based monetary policy focused on price stability as the Fed’s best contribution to healthy economic growth and maximum employment, and of credible and predictable credit market policy as supporting financial stability. For those committed to understanding the most important issues facing the Fed and the contributions of the SOMC to the monetary policy debate, this volume serves as an essential resource.

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Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy

Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy

Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy

Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy

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Overview

Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy is a deep dive into the fifty-year history of the Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC), a group of private academic economists that acts as the Federal Reserve’s outside watchdogs, providing candid, economically grounded critiques of the Fed’s conduct of policy. The volume, based on a two-day symposium held at the Hoover Institution October 13–14, 2024, examines the evolution of the Fed’s monetary and credit policies and critical issues it faces today.

Contributors discuss how the SOMC evolved in its approach to monetary policy—from a strong emphasis on controlling the money supply to rein in the high and variable inflation of the 1970s, to a broader focus on rules-based policies as the best strategy to avoid major policy mistakes and maintain a credible monetary policy. The SOMC has also critiqued the rising frequency of Fed interventions in credit markets, including its participation in rescuing failing banks. Readers will find thought-provoking analyses from leading monetary economists, including rigorous discussions about rules versus discretion and assessments of the Taylor rule, a key policymaking tool.

Chapters by leading economic and financial scholars address many of the pressing central bank policy issues of today, including the Fed’s evolving interpretation of its dual mandate (price stability and maximum employment), the expanded role of the Fed in financial markets and the effect on policymaking, the implications of its enlarged balance sheet, and fiscal-monetary policy interactions. An lively discussion among former leading Fed members on outside influences sheds light on factors that affected some of their crucial decisions.

In an environment where the Federal Reserve can significantly affect economic performance, the scholarly contributors to this book emphasize the importance of rules-based monetary policy focused on price stability as the Fed’s best contribution to healthy economic growth and maximum employment, and of credible and predictable credit market policy as supporting financial stability. For those committed to understanding the most important issues facing the Fed and the contributions of the SOMC to the monetary policy debate, this volume serves as an essential resource.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780817926748
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
Publication date: 10/01/2025
Pages: 616
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jeffrey M. Lacker is a senior affiliated scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee, and former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Michael D. Bordo is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a Board of Governors Professor of Economics at Rutgers University, where he directs the Center for Monetary and Financial History.

Mickey D. Levy is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a long-standing member of the Shadow Open Market Committee. He also runs MDL Insights, an economic consulting firm.

John B. Taylor is the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University, where he directs the Introductory Economics Center.

Table of Contents

Preface

Welcoming Remarks

Rules Versus Discretion over the Last 50 Years

Rules Versus Discretion over the Last 50 Years

The Evolution of Monetary Policy

The Fifty-Year History of the SOMC and the Evolution of Monetary Policy

Monetarism in Europe and the United Kingdom

The Genesis and Performance of Swiss Monetary Targeting Central Bank Watch 2024/2025: Monetary Policy Normalization Ahead European Experience of Monetarism and the SOMC Bundesbank and ECB—Monetarist Strategies?

The Search for a Nominal Anchor

Money in the Search for a Nominal Anchor The Nominal Anchor, In Originali, and the Fed In Search of a Stable Nominal Anchor

Keynote Speech: Thoughts on the Economy and Policy Rules at the Federal Open Market Committee

Thoughts on the Economy and Policy Rules at the Federal Open Market Committee

The Fed’s Evolving Mandate

The Federal Reserve’s Evolving Interpretation and Implementation of Its Mandate Strengthening the Federal Reserve’s Accountability to the US Congress The Evolution of Postwar Intellectual Leadership on Monetary Policy

The Conduct of Monetary Policy

The Fed’s Ample Reserves Monetary Policy Operating Framework: It Isn’t as Simple as It Looks From the Floor Back to the Corridor: Why the Choice of Monetary Policy Implementation Framework Matters Rate Corridors Depend on Dealer Balance Sheet Capacity

Monetary-Fiscal Issues

Monetary-Fiscal Interactions Crumbling Boundaries and the Risks to Central Bank Independence When Are Central Bank Policy Actions Fiscal? Definitions, Examples, and a Call for Transparency

Federal Reserve Credit Policy

Federal Reserve Credit Policy and the Shadow Open Market Committee

Influences of the SOMC and Others Outside the Fed

From the SOMC to the FOMC: How Ideas Filter into the Fed, with Special Reference to the Taylor Rule Influences of the SOMC and Others Outside the Fed The Shadow Open Market Committee and Its Role in Monetary Policy: Some Personal Observations Consensus and Dissent: Influences on Monetary Policy Deliberations

About the Contributors

About the Hoover Institution’s Economic Policy Working Group

About the Shadow Open Market Committee

Index

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