ACTIVITIES AND POLICIES OF DISTRICT BANKS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR MONETARY POLICY HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON DOMESTIC MONETAEY POLICY OF THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINETY-SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 23, 1982 Serial No. 97-?? Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 99-756 O WASHINGTON : 1982 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS FERNAND J. ST GERMAIN, Rhode Island, Chairman HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin J. WILLIAM STANTON, Ohio HENRY B. GONZALEZ, Texas CHALMERS P. WYLIE, Ohio JOSEPH G. MINISH, New Jersey STEWART B. McKINNEY, Connecticut FRANK ANNUNZIO, Illinois GEORGE HANSEN, Idaho PARREN J. MITCHELL, Maryland JIM LEACH, Iowa WALTER E. FAUNTROY, District of THOMAS B. EVANS, JR., Delaware Columbia RON PAUL, Texas STEPHEN L. NEAL, North Carolina ED BETHUNE, Arkansas JERRY M. PATTERSON, California NORMAN D. SHUMWAY, California JAMES J. BLANCHARD, Michigan STAN PARRIS, Virginia CARROLL HUBBARD, JR., Kentucky ED WEBER, Ohio JOHN J. LAFALCE, New York BILL McCOLLUM, Florida DAVID W. EVANS, Indiana GREGORY W. CARMAN, New York NORMAN E. D'AMOURS, New Hampshire GEORGE C. WORTLEY, New York STANLEY N. LUNDINE, New York MARGE ROUKEMA, New Jersey MARY ROSE OAKAR, Ohio BILL LOWERY, California JIM MATTOX, Texas JAMES K. COYNE, Pennsylvania BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota DOUGLAS K. BEREUTER, Nebraska DOUG BARNARD, JR., Georgia DAVID DREIER, California ROBERT GARCIA, New York MIKE LOWRY, Washington CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts BILL PATMAN, Texas WILLIAM J. COYNE, Pennsylvania STENY H. HOYER, Maryland SUBCOMMITTEE ON DOMESTIC MONETARY POLICY WALTER E. FAUNTROY, District of Columbia, Chairman PARREN J. MITCHELL, Maryland GEORGE HANSEN, Idaho STEPHEN L. NEAL, North Carolina RON PAUL, Texas DOUG BARNARD, JR., Georgia BILL McCOLLUM, Florida HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin BILL LOWERY, California JAMES J. BLANCHARD, Michigan ED WEBER, Ohio CARROLL HUBBARD, JR., Kentucky JAMES K. COYNE, Pennsylvania BILL PATMAN, Texas HOWARD LEE, Staff Director (II) Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS STATEMENTS Page Boykin, Robert H., president, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Dallas, Tex 85 Corrigan, E. Gerald, president, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Minne- apolis, Minn 15 Morris, Frank E., president, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, Mass 18 Solomon, Anthony M., president, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, N.Y 15 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR INCLUSION IN THE RECORD Boykin, Robert H., prepared statement 88 Corrigan, E. Gerald, prepared statement 101 Faun troy, Chairman Walter E.: Copy of subcommittee notice containing questions submitted to the Feder- al Reserve district bank presidents 3 Press release of the subcommittee, dated September 7, 1982 5 Hansen, Hon. George, article from New York Times Magazine, September 19, 1982, "A Talk With Paul Volcker" 10 Joint prepared statement of the Federal Reserve bank presidents testifying, Presidents Boykin, Corrigan, Morris, Roos, and Solomon 20 Morris, Frank E.: Letter, dated October 7, 1982, containing further comments to Chairman Fauntroy's questions contained in subcommittee notice *. 201 Prepared statement 152 Patman, Hon. Bill, article from the Washington Post, September 22, 1982, "Wojnilower Fears Return to Tight Money Policy" 189 Roos, Lawrence K., prepared statement 116 Solomon, Anthony M.: Letter, dated October 19, 1982, responding to the request of Congressman Paul for additional information 186 Prepared statement 126 (in) Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ACTIVITIES AND POLICIES OF DISTRICT BANKS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR MONETARY POLICY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1982 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON DOMESTIC MONETARY POLICY, COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room 2128, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Walter E. Fauntroy (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Fauntroy, Neal, Barnard, Reuss, Patman, Hansen, Paul, McCollum, Lowery, Weber, and Coyne. Chairman FAUNTROY. The subcommittee will come to order. Today, we are meeting to take testimony from 5 of the 12 Feder- al Reserve district bank presidents in what I must characterize as a historic hearing. The Federal Reserve district banks act as inter- mediaries between the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington and the business and financial communities and general public in the various districts. They are, on the one hand, entities which carry out the day-to- day operations of the Federal Reserve System including the distribution of currency, processing of checks, acting as the Govern- ment's banking, supervising some of the activities of financial insti- tutions, and extending loans to depository institutions. As the premier financial institution in their communities, they are also potential leaders in the affirmative action and upward mobility programs as well as a source of significant employment and eco- nomic expertise. On the other hand, presidents of the district banks attend meet- ings, and five serve on a rotating basis as voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee which is this Nation's central body for monetary policy decisions. They are supposed to assure that regional economic developments and conditions are reflected in our national monetary policy. These hearings are intended to explore just how well the district banks are carrying out these two different functions. We ought not assume that just because we have had district banks for many dec- ades, as both the operating arms of the Federal Reserve and par- ticipants in its policy process, that the system works perfectly or that it should not be modified to better meet today's needs. (l) Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis In inviting each of you to this hearing, I posed in my letter of invitation a number of issues. Among them are the results of the explicit pricing policy for Fed services mandated by the Monetary Control Act and its effect on employment at the district banks, and the impact of the expansion of reserve requirements. I also asked about the composition of the boards of directors and possible expan- sion to include thrifts and other financial institutions, and the banks' involvement in community and scholarly activities, work training and upward mobility programs, affirmative action policies and the numbers of minorities employed in management and re- search positions. Additionally, I want to explore with you the impact on monetary policy of regional business, financial, employment, and credit condi- tions, as conveyed by the district bank presidents. Finally, I would like to examine the role that the directors of the banks have in aiding you to formulate your ideas which are then translated into policy by the FOMC. Some of this discussion will obviously touch upon the most im- portant question of the appropriateness and viability of the mone- tary targets presently in use and whether we might not consider alternative targets such as credit, nominal GNP, or interest rates. [A copy of the subcommittee notice of the hearing with the ques- tions that were submitted to the Federal Reserve district bank presidents and a press release of the subcommittee, dated Septem- ber 7, 1982, follow:] Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis GEORGE HANSEN. It RON PAUL. TEX. •ILL MCCOLLUM. Ft BILL. LOWERY. CAUII ED WEBER. OHIO JAMES K. COYNE. P. U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SUBCOMMITTEE ON DOMESTIC MONETARY POLICY OF THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS WASHINGTON. D.C. 20515 On Thursday, September 23, 1982, the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy will hold hearings on the Activities and Policies of the Federal Reserve District Banks and their Implications for Monetary Policy. These hearings will examine a wide range of issues, including the role and operations of the Federal Reserve District Banks in their communities and regions and their role in determining monetary policy. I would like you as the President of a Federal Reserve District Bank to testify at these hearings on your two-fold role of translating national policies into local and regional affairs, and communicating local and regional economic concerns to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In regards to the first role, I hope that you will address the following questions: 1. What are the results of the explicit pricing policy for Fed services mandated by the Monetary Control Act? What have been the effects on employment by the District Banks and their branches? What difficulties, if any, have been encountered by the expansion of Reserve Requirements? What degree of integration and cooperation has developed between the Reserve District Banks, the commercial banks, and the thrifts? 2. What is the composition of your Board of Directors, the number of women and minorities who serve on your Board, and the number of individuals who are associated with thrift institutions? What are your plans to expand their participation on the Board? What is your view of proposals under consideration to increase the number of Class "C" Directors or create a new class of Directors who