The Federal Reserve Engages the World (1970–2000): an Insider’S Narrative of the Transition to Managed Floating and Financial Turbulence
Working Paper Series WP 14-5 AUGUST 2014 The Federal Reserve Engages the World (1970–2000): An Insider’s Narrative of the Transition to Managed Floating and Financial Turbulence Edwin M. Truman Abstract This paper traces the evolution of the Federal Reserve and its engagement with the global economy over the last three decades of the 20th century: 1970 to 2000. The paper examines the Federal Reserve’s role in international economic and financial policy and analysis covering four areas: the emergence and taming of the great inflation, developments in US external accounts, foreign exchange analysis and activities, and external financial crises. It concludes that during this period the US central bank emerged to become the closest the world has to a global central bank. JEL Codes: F3, F31, F32, F33, F34, E4, E42, F5, F52, F53 Keywords: Federal Reserve, Federal Open Market Committee, inflation, macroeconomic policies, monetary policy, external balance, exchange rates, exchange market intervention, financial crises, third world debt crises, Mexican crisis, Asian financial crises Edwin M. Truman, senior fellow since 2001, served as assistant secretary of the US Treasury for International Affairs from December 1998 to January 2001, and returned as counselor to the secretary from March–May 2009. He directed the Division of International Finance of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1977 to 1998. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of Sovereign Wealth Funds: Threat or Salvation? (2010), Reforming the IMF for the 21st Century (2006), A Strategy for IMF Reform (2006), Chasing Dirty Money: The Fight Against Money Laundering (2004), and Inflation Targeting in the World Economy (2003).
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