An eye-opening analysis of the Federal Reserve's massive and unwarranted power in American life and how it favors the financial sector over everyone else. The Federal Reserve, created more than a century ago, is the most powerful central bank in the world. The Fed's power, which derives from its ability to alter the money supply and move interest rates, weighs heavily not only on the US economy, but on the world economy as well. Lawrence R. Jacobs and Desmond King's Fed Power is the first sustained synthesis of the Fed's political role--especially the way in which it uses its power to benefit some interest groups and not others--since the 2008 financial crisis. In this fully updated and revised second edition, Fed Power addresses new developments during Trump's presidency--particularly the Fed's massive and unprecedented injection of liquidity into the US economy following the COVID epidemic-and offers fresh insights on the Fed's outsized role in picking winners and losers in the American economy. King and Jacobs conclude with bold proposals to reform America's financial management to prevent future crises and to restore democratic accountability. A powerful critique of how the Federal Reserve governs the American economy, Fed Power will be essential reading for anyone interested in the role that the Fed's policies have played in increasing economic and racial inequality across both the Obama and Trump presidencies and the new directions pursued by the Biden administration and progressive activists.

About the Author
Lawrence R. Jacobs is Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies at the Humphrey School for Public Affairs, the University of Minnesota, and co-author of both Health Care Reform and American Politics (Oxford) and Class War? (Chicago). Desmond King is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of American Government at Oxford University and author of Making Americans (Harvard), as well as co-author of Still a House Divided (Princeton).

Reviews
[A] careful argument for balancing sound financial management and the public interest." * Kirkus Reviews *
[A] groundbreaking book...Fed Power represents a vibrant form of 21st century financial populism and a vital intervention in our political and social debates." * The Huffington Post *
[Jacobs and King] use the tools of political science to examine the Federal Reserve as an institution... [and] argue that the democratic accountability of the Federal Reserve has suffered because of the bailouts. And it's completely true that the Federal Reserve pushed their powers beyond what anyone had expected... There is a lot to be impressed with in this book." * The American Prospect *
A welcome demonstration that grounded academic work can be entertaining as well as informative. Lawrence Jacobs and Desmond King, political scientists from the universities of Minnesota and Oxford respectively, live up to their claim to 'jettison the all-too-common hermetic language of academia in favor of candor and directness'... A book that is engaging throughout and generally persuasive in its principal thesis that the Fed is a politically loaded institution that drives rising inequality." * The Financial Times, Philip Augar *
Jacobs and King bring a political economy perspective to the debate... Recommended. * Choice Reviews *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197573136
Author Lawrence Jacobs
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 703g
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 231mm * 20mm