Alaska and the Federal Reserve Bank: bringing Alaska's issues to the Federal Reserve through an Alaskan board member.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 October 2003
• Author: Lawer, Betsy

I carry a map to all Federal Reserve Bank meetings. The map depicts the size of Alaska compared to the rest of the United States--to scale. It brings an Alaska perspective to the table for national monetary policymaking and often educates delegates of Alaska's immensity.

The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible and more stable monetary and financial system.

Over the years, its roles have evolved and expanded. Today, the Fed has four primary responsibilities: influencing the supply of money and credit (monetary policy); regulating and supervising bank holding companies and certain commercial banks; providing payment services to depository financial institutions (check processing, cash services, electronic funds transfers); and serving as fiscal agent for the U.S. government, or in other words, serving as the nation's bank.

Monetary policymaking reflects national/regional, public/private and independent characteristics. The tools the Fed uses to conduct policy are open-market operations--federal funds rate and the discount rate. With these tools, the Fed can affect credit conditions in the economy and achieve both long- and short-run goals, which influence people's demand for goods and services, and ultimately economic performance.

By using illustrations such as the map, members see that less than 1 percent of the Arctic...