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Frequently asked questions Q1: Is the Federal Reserve private or public/governmental?
A1: The Federal Reserve is not one entity but several, and each has its own status in relation to the government. The Board of Governors, which supervises the system, is a federal government agency. The twelve Federal Reserve Banks are privately owned corporations organized under the Federal Reserve Act that have public responsibilities. They are not organized under the laws that govern other private corporations, such as for-profit businesses. Q2: Who owns the Federal Reserve?
A2: There are multiple answers depending on which part of the Federal Reserve is meant.
Q3: Does the court case Lewis v. United States (1982) prove that the Fed is a private bank?
A3: Lewis v. United States held that a man injured by a Federal Reserve Bank's vehicle could not sue the federal government for damages. The court decided that for the purpose of a tort claim, the Reserve Bank was not a federal agency, because the government did not control its detailed activities and day-to-day operations. The decision noted that in other cases, for other legal purposes, courts have treated Reserve Banks as government-affiliated entities. Q4: Why is the structure of the Federal Reserve so complicated?
A4: The structure reflects the development of the Federal Reserve over time from a regional system into a de facto centralized system. The original Federal Reserve Act provided for banks to cooperate with each other and the government on a regional basis to meet credit demands. This was intended to prevent banks in more commercial parts of the country from dominating others. Each Federal Reserve Bank managed credit within its region, while the Board carried out regulatory and policy functions. (
House Report 69 (1913), pp. 17–19). The Banking Act of 1935 increased the authority of the Board and the status of the Reserve Bank of New York, while reducing the role of the other Reserve Banks. Q5: Does the Federal Reserve have a connection with federal income tax?
A5: Yes. The Federal Reserve Act and the first "modern" income tax were both enacted in late 1913 by Woodrow Wilson, who saw them as ways to strengthen the federal government against the large business interests of the time. Although they were enacted around the same time, each proposal had its own separate political history. Additionally, the Federal Reserve processes payments for the federal government. Therefore, any payment to the US Treasury (including income tax) is eventually deposited to the Treasury's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and becomes part of the government's operating cash. Q6: Does the Federal Reserve have a connection with the national debt?
A6: Yes. The Federal Reserve Banks are significant owners of federal debt securities, about $5.6 trillion or 18% of the debt as of June 2022. They draw part of their income from these holdings, which they use to pay their expenses and dividends before remitting their earnings to the Treasury. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York also conducts (but does not participate in) auctions of new federal debt securities. Fiscal policy — how the government raises and spends money — is decided by Congress, not by the Federal Reserve. Q7: Did Woodrow Wilson regret creating the Fed?
A7: No. A supposed regretful quote from him ("I am a most unhappy man...") is assembled from words that he said and wrote, but not about creating the Fed. See the
Wikiquote page for Wilson. Q8: I have a book/web site/video that contradicts these answers.
A8: Works claiming that the Federal Reserve is the creation of a sinister banker conspiracy have been raised here many times before. There are separate articles about writers and works that make such claims, like
G. Edward Griffin and
America: Freedom to Fascism. However, they are not mentioned in this article, because they are not widely acknowledged among authors who write about the Fed, even to criticize it. Wikipedia aims to
fairly represent the significant points of view on a subject but not to
promote fringe theories held by a
tiny minority of adherents. Q9: Where can I find more answers about the Federal Reserve?
A9: The Board of Governors has its own
frequently asked questions list. |
![]() | Discussions on this page often lead to previous arguments being restated. Please read recent comments, look in the archives, and review the FAQ before commenting. |
![]() | This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
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I made the following edit below but it was rejected as "fringe POV" by @Ravensfire. The Fed itself names itself as an "independent government agency but still accountable to Congress". Come on folks, this is public domain knowledge that the Fed is literally owned by its member banks. There is no such thing as an "independent government agency" as all government agencies answer to one of the three branches of government.
Similarly, the Fed is not a reserve since the USA went off the gold standard. Again, public domain knowledge.
Rude accusations and capricious rejections of content that is applicable and public domain hurt Wiki, not help it. I'm not going to debate this with someone who rudely accused me of having a fringe POV but I hope some other admin will correct this. Thank you.
The Federal Reserve System is neither federal nor a reserve. It is not part of the federal government because it is privately owned and operated by its member banks for profit.(1)(2) It is not a reserve because it no longer holds reserves in gold since the United States went off the gold standard in 1933.(3)
1. "Who Owns the Federal Reserve Banks | In Plain English | St. Louis Fed". www.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved 2021-09-01. 2. "The Fed - Appendix B. Dividends". Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Retrieved 2021-09-01. 3. Editors, History com. "FDR takes United States off gold standard". HISTORY. Retrieved 2021-09-01. Wikiguy91311 ( talk) 01:18, 3 September 2021 (UTC)— Wikiguy91311 ( talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
References
No discussion on the history of the national income tax being paired with fed reserve creation? Also, no discussion on where some of citizens tax money goes, to interest payments on the national debt? 173.172.127.147 ( talk) 02:26, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
Recently added to a section* pertaining to the CPI - however this was not deemed relevant. Any opinions that say it may be relevant / noteworthy to include? :)— Preceding unsigned comment added by BlockchainusMaximus ( talk • contribs)
I have rewritten the talk page FAQ to address questions / objections raised frequently on this talk page. A link to the Board of Governors' FAQ is included at the end. 67.180.143.89 ( talk) 05:39, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
User:A. C. Santacruz tagged this section for excessive use of quotations. The section is mostly quotations, one of which spans four paragraphs. I condensed and paraphrased it, and this was reverted by User:Beauty School Dropout who called it "unhelpful" and said that "disputed topics" should be discussed. First, I was acting on someone else's request, which is the definition of "helpful." Second, I don't see a content dispute here. No concern about the neutrality or factual accuracy of the section has been raised. If someone wants to make a case for keeping the section as it was, they can do that here. Otherwise there is no dispute, only obstruction. 67.180.143.89 ( talk) 16:30, 27 February 2022 (UTC)
It looked like page blanking to me. A. C. Santacruz I'm going to back out of this discussion and let more experienced and knowledgeable Wikipedians such as yourself decide the fate of this one. Beauty School Dropout ( talk) 20:42, 27 February 2022 (UTC)
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Federal Reserve article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives:
Index,
1,
2,
3,
4Auto-archiving period: 40 days
![]() |
![]() | The subject of this article is controversial and content may be in dispute. When updating the article, be bold, but not reckless. Feel free to try to improve the article, but don't take it personally if your changes are reversed; instead, come here to the talk page to discuss them. Content must be written from a neutral point of view. Include citations when adding content and consider tagging or removing unsourced information. |
Frequently asked questions Q1: Is the Federal Reserve private or public/governmental?
A1: The Federal Reserve is not one entity but several, and each has its own status in relation to the government. The Board of Governors, which supervises the system, is a federal government agency. The twelve Federal Reserve Banks are privately owned corporations organized under the Federal Reserve Act that have public responsibilities. They are not organized under the laws that govern other private corporations, such as for-profit businesses. Q2: Who owns the Federal Reserve?
A2: There are multiple answers depending on which part of the Federal Reserve is meant.
Q3: Does the court case Lewis v. United States (1982) prove that the Fed is a private bank?
A3: Lewis v. United States held that a man injured by a Federal Reserve Bank's vehicle could not sue the federal government for damages. The court decided that for the purpose of a tort claim, the Reserve Bank was not a federal agency, because the government did not control its detailed activities and day-to-day operations. The decision noted that in other cases, for other legal purposes, courts have treated Reserve Banks as government-affiliated entities. Q4: Why is the structure of the Federal Reserve so complicated?
A4: The structure reflects the development of the Federal Reserve over time from a regional system into a de facto centralized system. The original Federal Reserve Act provided for banks to cooperate with each other and the government on a regional basis to meet credit demands. This was intended to prevent banks in more commercial parts of the country from dominating others. Each Federal Reserve Bank managed credit within its region, while the Board carried out regulatory and policy functions. (
House Report 69 (1913), pp. 17–19). The Banking Act of 1935 increased the authority of the Board and the status of the Reserve Bank of New York, while reducing the role of the other Reserve Banks. Q5: Does the Federal Reserve have a connection with federal income tax?
A5: Yes. The Federal Reserve Act and the first "modern" income tax were both enacted in late 1913 by Woodrow Wilson, who saw them as ways to strengthen the federal government against the large business interests of the time. Although they were enacted around the same time, each proposal had its own separate political history. Additionally, the Federal Reserve processes payments for the federal government. Therefore, any payment to the US Treasury (including income tax) is eventually deposited to the Treasury's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and becomes part of the government's operating cash. Q6: Does the Federal Reserve have a connection with the national debt?
A6: Yes. The Federal Reserve Banks are significant owners of federal debt securities, about $5.6 trillion or 18% of the debt as of June 2022. They draw part of their income from these holdings, which they use to pay their expenses and dividends before remitting their earnings to the Treasury. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York also conducts (but does not participate in) auctions of new federal debt securities. Fiscal policy — how the government raises and spends money — is decided by Congress, not by the Federal Reserve. Q7: Did Woodrow Wilson regret creating the Fed?
A7: No. A supposed regretful quote from him ("I am a most unhappy man...") is assembled from words that he said and wrote, but not about creating the Fed. See the
Wikiquote page for Wilson. Q8: I have a book/web site/video that contradicts these answers.
A8: Works claiming that the Federal Reserve is the creation of a sinister banker conspiracy have been raised here many times before. There are separate articles about writers and works that make such claims, like
G. Edward Griffin and
America: Freedom to Fascism. However, they are not mentioned in this article, because they are not widely acknowledged among authors who write about the Fed, even to criticize it. Wikipedia aims to
fairly represent the significant points of view on a subject but not to
promote fringe theories held by a
tiny minority of adherents. Q9: Where can I find more answers about the Federal Reserve?
A9: The Board of Governors has its own
frequently asked questions list. |
![]() | Discussions on this page often lead to previous arguments being restated. Please read recent comments, look in the archives, and review the FAQ before commenting. |
![]() | This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
![]() | This ![]() It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
Daily pageviews of this article
A graph should have been displayed here but
graphs are temporarily disabled. Until they are enabled again, visit the interactive graph at
pageviews.wmcloud.org |
This page has archives. Sections older than 40 days may be automatically archived by Lowercase sigmabot III. |
I made the following edit below but it was rejected as "fringe POV" by @Ravensfire. The Fed itself names itself as an "independent government agency but still accountable to Congress". Come on folks, this is public domain knowledge that the Fed is literally owned by its member banks. There is no such thing as an "independent government agency" as all government agencies answer to one of the three branches of government.
Similarly, the Fed is not a reserve since the USA went off the gold standard. Again, public domain knowledge.
Rude accusations and capricious rejections of content that is applicable and public domain hurt Wiki, not help it. I'm not going to debate this with someone who rudely accused me of having a fringe POV but I hope some other admin will correct this. Thank you.
The Federal Reserve System is neither federal nor a reserve. It is not part of the federal government because it is privately owned and operated by its member banks for profit.(1)(2) It is not a reserve because it no longer holds reserves in gold since the United States went off the gold standard in 1933.(3)
1. "Who Owns the Federal Reserve Banks | In Plain English | St. Louis Fed". www.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved 2021-09-01. 2. "The Fed - Appendix B. Dividends". Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Retrieved 2021-09-01. 3. Editors, History com. "FDR takes United States off gold standard". HISTORY. Retrieved 2021-09-01. Wikiguy91311 ( talk) 01:18, 3 September 2021 (UTC)— Wikiguy91311 ( talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
References
No discussion on the history of the national income tax being paired with fed reserve creation? Also, no discussion on where some of citizens tax money goes, to interest payments on the national debt? 173.172.127.147 ( talk) 02:26, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
Recently added to a section* pertaining to the CPI - however this was not deemed relevant. Any opinions that say it may be relevant / noteworthy to include? :)— Preceding unsigned comment added by BlockchainusMaximus ( talk • contribs)
I have rewritten the talk page FAQ to address questions / objections raised frequently on this talk page. A link to the Board of Governors' FAQ is included at the end. 67.180.143.89 ( talk) 05:39, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
User:A. C. Santacruz tagged this section for excessive use of quotations. The section is mostly quotations, one of which spans four paragraphs. I condensed and paraphrased it, and this was reverted by User:Beauty School Dropout who called it "unhelpful" and said that "disputed topics" should be discussed. First, I was acting on someone else's request, which is the definition of "helpful." Second, I don't see a content dispute here. No concern about the neutrality or factual accuracy of the section has been raised. If someone wants to make a case for keeping the section as it was, they can do that here. Otherwise there is no dispute, only obstruction. 67.180.143.89 ( talk) 16:30, 27 February 2022 (UTC)
It looked like page blanking to me. A. C. Santacruz I'm going to back out of this discussion and let more experienced and knowledgeable Wikipedians such as yourself decide the fate of this one. Beauty School Dropout ( talk) 20:42, 27 February 2022 (UTC)