Federal Reserve documents 42 page

Reserve Act, December 16, 2013, in the boardroom. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

With President Obama, February 5, 2013, in the Oval Office. I affirmed that I did not want to be nominated to a third

term as chairman. (Official White House photograph by Pete Souza)

My last Board meeting, January 27, 2014. Standing at the table, left to right, Board secretary Bob Frierson, Janet

Yellen, and Dan Tarullo. (Federal Reserve Photograph, Britt Leckman)

President Obama applauds after announcing his nomination of Janet Yellen as the next chair of the Federal Reserve Board, in the State Dining Room of the White House, October 9, 2013. (AP Photo / Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Anna and I at a farewell ceremony in the Eccles Building atrium, January 30, 2014. (Federal Reserve Photograph, Britt

Leckman)

Board employees throng the ground floor of the atrium for the reception that followed the ceremony. (Federal Reserve

Photograph, Britt Leckman)

Leaving the chairman’s office for the last time, January 31, 2014. (Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images)

ACKNOW LEDGMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the superb editing, writing, and research of Dave Skidmore of the Federal Reserve Board’s Office of Public Affairs. Dave, a former Associated Press reporter, took a year’s leave from the Board to assist me. His work at the Fed, where he oversaw the preparation of my public remarks and provided sound advice, covered the entire period described in these pages. His dedication to our book project went above and beyond the call of duty. I am very grateful for his hard work and careful attention to every page of the manuscript. I relied on his eye, as a former journalist, for the telling anecdote and the evocative quote. He helped me translate technical economic concepts into terms accessible to a broader readership. He made the book much, much better.

Ever resourceful and always cheerful, Pari Sastry assisted us with outstanding research. After finishing a two-and-a-half-year stint as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, she delayed her matriculation at law school to work with us. I appreciated her enthusiasm and dedication to building an accurate historical record of the pre-crisis period, the crisis itself, and its aftermath.

For providing a congenial working environment and research support, I would like to thank the Brookings Institution, particularly its president, Strobe Talbott; David Wessel, the director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy; and Ted Gayer, director of the Economic Studies program. David convened a Brookings reading group—including himself, Ted, Liaquat Ahamed, Don Kohn, Louise Sheiner, and Justin Wolfers—whose members offered many helpful comments. Sarah Holmes, also of the Brookings Institution, provided excellent administrative assistance.

Other friends and colleagues read all or part of the manuscript, and their comments made the book better and more accurate: Tobias Adrian, Scott Alvarez, Bob Barnett, Jeremy Bulow, Bill Dudley, Norman Eisen, Bill English, Gary Gorton, Anil Kashyap, Rick Mishkin, Ananda Rose, and Lars Svensson. I thank each of them without implicating them.

I also appreciate the generosity of former colleagues in sharing their recollections, including Don Kohn, former Board members Sue Bies and Kevin Warsh, Board communications director Michelle Smith, Board congressional relations director Linda Robertson, Tim Clark of the Board’s banking supervision division, and former Board consumer affairs director Sandy Braunstein. Board photographer Britt Leckman contributed excellent photos for the book.

Bob Barnett and Michael O’Connor gave me the benefit of their extensive experience in the roles of legal advisers and literary agents. They provided copious advice and support throughout the writing and publishing process.

I am grateful to W. W. Norton, our publisher, and to Norton president Drake McFeely and senior editor Brendan Curry, for comments on the manuscript and for shepherding the project through development and publication. Associate editor Jeff Shreve helped us compile the photos for this book and Rachel Salzman led the publicity efforts. Janet Byrne provided meticulous copyediting. Others at Norton making great contributions behind the scenes included Meredith McGinnis, Bill Rusin, Jeannie Luciano, Louise Brockett, Devon Zahn, and Nancy Palmquist. Thanks also to freelancer Cynthia Colonna for promptly providing interview transcripts.

The essential encouragement and support provided by my family, especially my wife, Anna, will have been evident in these pages. I would like to thank her once more, as well as our adult children, Joel and Alyssa, who—despite busy lives of their own—always find time to call and ask how I am doing.

Finally, to end where the book began, I would like to express my deep appreciation for the work and commitment of my former colleagues at the Federal Reserve. The Board allowed me access to emails and other materials that helped refresh my recollection of the events recounted in this book. More importantly, at a time when many despair of Washington, the Fed continues to demonstrate that economic policy can be made in a manner that is thoughtful, transparent, and collegial as well as in the interest of all Americans.

A NOTE ON SOURCES

This book draws on many sources, including previously unused primary sources (emails, memoranda, and interviews); the author’s recollections; contemporaneous public documents, such as speeches, reports, and congressional hearing transcripts; contemporaneous news accounts; published books and articles; and economic data. To conserve space, I have made chapter-by-chapter notes available only online; please see www.couragetoactbook.com/. Below I describe some general sources used frequently in the preparation of this book.

Federal Reserve documents

The Federal Reserve’s website, www.federalreserve.gov, provides extensive historical information as well as information on current policy.

• For information about the Federal Open Market Committee, minutes of policy meetings, and postmeeting statements, see www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomccalendars.htm. Economic projections by FOMC members appear quarterly as an appendix to the minutes of the meeting for which they are submitted.

• Transcripts of FOMC meetings and supporting materials are released with a five-year lag. Transcripts and other historical materials can be found at www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomc_historical.htm.

• Federal Reserve press releases, including, for example, authorizations of emergency facilities and FOMC statements, can be found at www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/all/2015all.htm.

• Speeches by members of the Board of Governors are at www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/2015speech.htm. For congressional testimony by Board members, see www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/2015testimony.htm.

• The Federal Reserve Board’s Monetary Policy Report, available at www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/mpr_default.htm, is released twice each year in conjunction with the chairman’s testimony to Congress. It reviews economic, financial, and policy developments.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 722