Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) — A new book chronicles the history of a group of outsiders who’ve evaluated and sometimes criticized the activities of the US Federal Reserve over the past fifty years. It also generates useful discussion about monetary policy as central banks work to curb persistent inflation.
Now available in print, Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy is a deep dive into the fifty-year history of the Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC), a group of private academic economists that has acted as the Federal Reserve’s outside watchdogs.
Over the years, the group has provided candid and economically grounded critiques of the Fed’s conduct of policy. This criticism is especially important today as the Fed and other central banks around the globe continue to grapple with persistent, higher-than-target rates of inflation.
Criticism of the Federal Reserve's slow response to inflation underscores the need for better monetary policymaking, which the SOMC aims to address through independent assessments of the Fed's actions. The book encourages discussions on monetary policy and seeks to engage a wide audience, ultimately supporting a more adaptive and flexible economic framework that enhances individual and business prosperity.
The volume, based on a two-day symposium held at the Hoover Institution on October 13–14, 2024, examines the evolution of the Fed’s monetary and credit policies as well as many of the critical issues it faces today.
Edited by Hoover fellows Michael D. Bordo, John B. Taylor, and Mickey D. Levy, alongside Jeffrey M. Lacker of the Mercatus Center at George Washington University, the book also goes beyond the group’s history and offers context for today’s economic challenges.
Topics discussed in the book include the global search for a nominal anchor, how the Federal Reserve’s mandate has evolved over the years, current monetary policy in Europe and the UK, risks to central bank independence, Federal Reserve credit policy, and how the SOMC and other outside actors influence the actions of the Federal Reserve.
Incorporating the insights of leading economists and financial scholars, Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee will prove an invaluable resource for central bankers and their staff, media and financial industry commentators, private bankers, economics students, and the engaged public.
Advance praise for Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee:
“[The book] sheds light on recent policy successes and failures [and] above all, demonstrates that contrary to recent conventional wisdom, money cannot be ignored in understanding inflation.”
- Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, 2003–2013
“The SOMC’s guidance will be crucial for the Fed’s evolution as it reconsiders its monetary and credit policy framework amid public debate about its role and independence.”
- Robert G. King, professor of economics at Boston University
“[The book] is an invaluable assessment of the Federal Reserve’s — and the SOMC’s — hits and misses over the past fifty years.”
- Kevin L. Kliesen, business economist and research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Click here to order Fifty Years of the Shadow Open Market Committee: A Retrospective on Its Role in Monetary Policy.
For coverage opportunities, contact Jeffrey Marschner, 202-760-3187, jmarsch@stanford.edu.
