Interview with Andrew F. Brimmer Former Member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
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Federal Reserve Board Oral History Project Interview with Andrew F. Brimmer Former Member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Date: July 13, 2007; July 27, 2007; and August 1, 2007 Location: Washington, D.C. Interviewers: David H. Small, Adrienne Hurt, Ben Hardaway, John C. Driscoll, and David Skidmore Federal Reserve Board Oral History Project In connection with the centennial anniversary of the Federal Reserve in 2013, the Board undertook an oral history project to collect personal recollections of a range of former Governors and senior staff members, including their background and education before working at the Board; important economic, monetary policy, and regulatory developments during their careers; and impressions of the institution’s culture. Following the interview, each participant was given the opportunity to edit and revise the transcript. In some cases, the Board staff also removed confidential FOMC and Board material in accordance with records retention and disposition schedules covering FOMC and Board records that were approved by the National Archives and Records Administration. Note that the views of the participants and interviewers are their own and are not in any way approved or endorsed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Because the conversations are based on personal recollections, they may include misstatements and errors. ii Contents July 13, 2007 (First Day of Interview) ......................................................................................... 1 Family History ................................................................................................................................ 1 Moving to the State of Washington (1944)................................................................................... 19 Working in Bremerton Navy Yard and Attending Evening School ........................................... 22 Army Years (1945–46) ................................................................................................................. 23 Attending the University of Washington ...................................................................................... 28 Pursuing Undergraduate Degree (1947–50) ............................................................................ 28 Internship in Washington, D.C., in the Summer of 1950 .......................................................... 32 Pursuing Master’s Degree at the University of Washington .................................................... 39 Studying in India on a Fulbright Fellowship (1951–52) ............................................................... 45 Working on the Staff of the Wage Stabilization Board in Seattle ................................................ 57 Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard (1952–55) .............................................................................. 59 The Fed–Treasury Accord of 1951, Followed by Chairman Eccles Leaving the Board .............. 74 July 27, 2007 (Second Day of Interview) ................................................................................... 82 Some Experiences with Discrimination ........................................................................................ 83 Working as an Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (1955–58) ....................... 86 Mission to Sudan ....................................................................................................................... 88 Teaching at Michigan State University (1958–61) and the Wharton School of Business (1961– 63) ................................................................................................................................................. 88 Working at the U.S. Department of Commerce (1963–65) .......................................................... 90 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ..................................................................................................... 92 Airline Deregulation ................................................................................................................. 97 Assessing the Economic Effect of the Alaska Earthquake of 1964 ........................................... 99 The Study of a Power Plant at Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine .................................................. 103 Supersonic Transport .............................................................................................................. 104 The Kennedy and Johnson Administrations: Macroeconomic Policy ....................................... 107 iii The December 1965 Increase in the Discount Rate .................................................................... 114 A Vacancy at the Board of Governors ........................................................................................ 119 Nomination to the Board of Governors ...................................................................................... 121 Discussion with the Staff in the Johnson Administration ....................................................... 123 Discussion with President Johnson ........................................................................................ 125 Making the Rounds on The Hill .............................................................................................. 132 Story of Brimmer Nomination from President Johnson’s Triumph and Tragedy Book ......... 137 August 1, 2007 (Third Day of Interview) ................................................................................ 141 The Fed, the Administration, and the Congress .......................................................................... 141 Working on Federal Reserve Infrastructure ................................................................................ 143 Nonpar Banking ...................................................................................................................... 143 Check Clearing and American Express .................................................................................. 144 Puerto Rico and Currency Circulation ................................................................................... 145 Establishing the Federal Reserve Branch in Miami—Coining Operations............................ 145 Minority Representative at the Board ..................................................................................... 146 The Board and the Congress ....................................................................................................... 151 Federal Open Market Committee Meetings ................................................................................ 153 Keynesian Economics at the Board and the Full Employment Target ....................................... 154 President Johnson’s Expectations of Brimmer’s Position on Monetary Policy ......................... 156 The Board’s Involvement in Consumer Financial Services Laws .............................................. 158 Interest Rate Ceilings and Monetary Policy ............................................................................... 163 Chairmanship of Arthur Burns.................................................................................................... 165 Nixon Offers Position of Secretary of the Treasury to Fed Chairman Martin ....................... 166 Nixon’s Announcement of Burns as Chairman, and Burns’s Meetings with Board Members at the White House ...................................................................................................................... 167 Burns’s First Federal Open Market Committee Meeting as Chairman: Brimmer Dissents . 168 Burns’s Interaction with the Staff and Board Members ......................................................... 171 Burns and the Nixon Administration....................................................................................... 172 iv Volcker as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ............................................... 180 Inflation and Recession in the 1970s .......................................................................................... 183 Ranking Federal Reserve Chairmen ........................................................................................... 187 President Carter and the Federal Reserve—Credit Controls ...................................................... 188 Chairman G. William Miller ....................................................................................................... 191 Lessons Learned.......................................................................................................................... 192 More Reflections about the Federal Reserve .............................................................................. 194 Financial Crises ........................................................................................................................... 198 Bank Mergers and Acquisitions .................................................................................................. 206 The Hunt Brothers....................................................................................................................... 209 Inflation Targeting ...................................................................................................................... 213 Bretton Woods ............................................................................................................................ 215 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................