Allan H. Meltzer, A History of the Federal Reserve

摘要

The publication in late 2009 of the two books of the second and final volume of A History of the Federal Reserve (covering the period 1951-86) completes the most ample study to date not only of the American central bank but of any central bank. If we include the first volume (covering the period 1913-51 and published in 2003), it is now possible to examine the work as a whole and appreciate its conception and originality. Meltzer, a well-known specialist in monetary theory and policy, spent fifteen years writing this work, for which he enlisted the help of some fifteen assistants to sift through the massive archives without which the book could not have been written. The result is more than 2,000 pages filled with details, anecdotes, figures, graphs and invaluable historical analyses that have no parallel for anyone interested in monetary and financial theory or the political history of the United States. With the help of largely unpublished archives, A History of the Federal Reserve adds considerably to our understanding of major events in the history of the United States and the world, including, in particular, the Great Depression, the operation of the Bretton Woods system and the 'stagflation' of the 1970s. By examining the transition from a system of semi-autonomous regional banks to one increasingly centralised in Washington, along with relations between the administration, the Congress and the Fed, Meltzer's work also helps us to understand major changes in the federalist structure of the United States and the role of the federal government over the course of the twentieth century.