Quote:
Originally Posted by Karma Police  The Federal Reserve Banks and the Federal Reserve System are ultimately controlled by the Federal Government and are not operated as private, for-profit institutions. How do we know this?
Those who run the Fed are appointed by the Federal Government, and Congress can amend the statutes governing the Federal Reserve System at any time. The so-called stockholders of the member banks receive a fixed 6% return on the shares, cannot sell the shares, etc. Holding stock in one of the Federal Reserve Banks is more like a club membership than ownership. The stockholders of the Federal Reserve Banks do not control the banks. |
What do you mean by 'ultimately controlled'? The government has little if no say in the day to day running of the Fed. Does the government tell the FOMC what their interest rate policy should be? Does the government tell them what the overnight loan rate should be?
Congress does have the power to modify or annul the Fed as it sees fit. Unfortunately, Congress continues to be quite happy to hand over billions in interest payments to the Fed when it has the power to issue its own currency.
Who can get appointed to the Fed board is another interesting twist on how the Fed does things differently.
The President gets to pick a new board member from a pre-approved list. Who makes up the list that the President gets to pick from?