Friday, January 20, 2012

Every Public Statement of Every Fed Chairman

The St. Louis Fed has put them all online

1914-1916: Charles S. Hamlin
1916-1922: W. P. G. Harding
1927-1930: Roy A. Young
1934 -1948: Marriner S. Eccles
1948-1951: Thomas B. McCabe
1951-1970: William McChesney Martin, Jr.
1970-1978: Arthur F. Burns
1978-1979: G. William Miller
1979-1987: Paul A. Volcker
1987-2006: Alan Greenspan
2006 - : Ben Bernanke

According to the St. Louis Fed, The statements include speeches and Congressional testimony given by the Chairmen of the Board of Governors. Most were issued as press releases by the Board of Governors. Some on-the-record interviews with news reporters are also included. However, responses to questions when providing testimony at Congressional hearings are not included in these documents, as they were not prepared statements; the responses are included in the published Hearings issued by Congress. These files do not include every on-the-record interview with reporters. Interviews were not consistently released as press releases by the Public Affairs office at the Board of Governors.

2 comments:

  1. Never have so many said so much about so little... The time honored and overly practiced art of talking ad nauseum without saying anything. One of the great triumphs of the Ivy League educational system.

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://www.federalreserve.gov/BOARDDOCS/SPEECHES/2002/20021108/default.htm

    Concluding Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke
    At the Conference to Honor Milton Friedman, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
    November 8, 2002

    "The brilliance of Friedman and Schwartz's work on the Great Depression is not simply the texture of the discussion or the coherence of the point of view. Their work was among the first to use history to address seriously the issues of cause and effect in a complex economic system, the problem of identification. Perhaps no single one of their "natural experiments" alone is convincing; but together, and enhanced by the subsequent research of dozens of scholars, they make a powerful case indeed.

    For practical central bankers, among which I now count myself, Friedman and Schwartz's analysis leaves many lessons. What I take from their work is the idea that monetary forces, particularly if unleashed in a destabilizing direction, can be extremely powerful. The best thing that central bankers can do for the world is to avoid such crises by providing the economy with, in Milton Friedman's words, a "stable monetary background"--for example as reflected in low and stable inflation.

    Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again.

    Best wishes for your next ninety years."

    ReplyDelete