Banks have way more direct influence on monetary policy than you think
People know that monetary policy is a huge influence on our economy/politics, but I don’t think they realize how powerful private banks have been in determining that monetary policy historically. All of the below is sourced from different Federal Reserve documents. First, the Federal Open Market Committee is the one that determines monetary policy. It has twelve members [1]. Seven of those members are appointed by the US President, and the other five are the Presidents of Regional Fed Banks (NY, Philly, San Francisco etc) [2, 3]. These Regional Fed Presidents - sitting on the committee that determines monetary policy - are appointed by directors, who until the financial crisis, were mostly appointed by private banks. Private banks appoint six of those nine, but now, after Dodd-Frank, only three can vote [4]. So I know it's a bit wordy, but private banks have historically appointed a strong majority of the group that chooses five of the twelve people who directly vote on monetar
