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Regional economic conditions and the FOMC votes of district presidents

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  • Geoffrey M. B. Tootell

Abstract

It is often argued that the institutional structure of the Federal Reserve System influences the formulation and attainment of national monetary policy goals. District Bank presidents do play a major role in the formulation of monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York always has one of twelve votes at the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings, and four of the remaining eleven votes rotate among the other Reserve Bank presidents. ; This article tests whether regional economic performance excessively influences the votes of District Bank presidents. The article quantifies the influence of regiona! conditions on District Bank voting by analyzing the monetary policy actually advocated by individual members of the FOMC. The results indicate that District Bank presidents set policy dependent on national, not their regional, conditions. A consensus- forming tendency could be the force that drives out any differences in tastes or models among FOMC members. Perhaps the ability to capture and utilize differentdnformation is the reason the regional diversity endures at the Fed.

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  • Geoffrey M. B. Tootell, 1991. "Regional economic conditions and the FOMC votes of district presidents," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Mar, pages 3-16.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedbne:y:1991:i:mar:p:3-16
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    Cited by:

    1. Ehrmann, Michael & Tietz, Robin & Visser, Bauke, 2021. "Voting right rotation, behavior of committee members and financial market reactions: evidence from the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee," Working Paper Series 2569, European Central Bank.
    2. Jung, Alexander & Latsos, Sophia, 2015. "Do federal reserve bank presidents have a regional bias?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 173-183.
    3. Helge Berger, 2006. "Optimal central bank design: Benchmarks for the ECB," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 207-235, September.
    4. Ellen Meade, 2006. "Dissent and Disagreement on the Fed's FOMC: Understanding Regional Affiliations and limits to Transparency," DNB Working Papers 094, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    5. Petra Gerlach-Kristen & Ellen E. Meade, 2010. "Is There a Limit on FOMC Dissents? Evidence from the Greenspan Era," Working Papers 2010-16, American University, Department of Economics.
    6. Bennani, Hamza & Kranz, Tobias & Neuenkirch, Matthias, 2018. "Disagreement between FOMC members and the Fed’s staff: New insights based on a counterfactual interest rate," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 139-153.
    7. Stefan Eichler & Tom Lähner, 2014. "Regional House Price Dynamics And Voting Behavior In The Fomc," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(2), pages 625-645, April.
    8. Peek, Joe & Rosengren, Eric S. & Tootell, Geoffrey M. B., 2003. "Does the federal reserve possess an exploitable informational advantage?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 817-839, May.
    9. Geoffrey M. B. Tootell, 2000. "Reserve Banks, the Discount Rate Recommendation, and FOMC Policy," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(4), pages 957-975, April.
    10. Geoffrey M. B. Tootell, 1991. "Are district presidents more conservative than board governors?," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Sep, pages 3-12.
    11. Cancelo, José Ramón & Varela, Diego & Sánchez-Santos, José Manuel, 2011. "Interest rate setting at the ECB: Individual preferences and collective decision making," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 804-820.
    12. Chappell, Henry W. & McGregor, Rob Roy, 2018. "Committee decision-making at Sweden's Riksbank," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 120-133.
    13. Brooks, Robert & Harris, Mark & Spencer, Christopher, 2007. "An Inflated Ordered Probit Model of Monetary Policy: Evidence from MPC Voting Data," MPRA Paper 8509, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Gambacorta, Leonardo, 2003. "Asymmetric bank lending channels and ECB monetary policy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    15. Meade, Ellen E. & Sheets, D. Nathan, 2002. "Regional influences on U.S. monetary policy: some implications for Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20091, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Bennani, Hamza & Farvaque, Etienne & Stanek, Piotr, 2018. "Influence of regional cycles and personal background on FOMC members’ preferences and disagreement," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 416-424.
    17. Rebecca Hellerstein, 2007. "Is There a Dead Spot? New Evidence on FOMC Decisions Before Elections," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(6), pages 1411-1427, September.
    18. Hamza Bennani, 2016. "Measuring Monetary Policy Stress for Fed District Representatives," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 63(2), pages 156-176, May.
    19. Tootell, Geoffrey M. B., 1999. "Whose monetary policy is it anyway?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 217-235, February.
    20. Martine Durand, 1999. "Challenges for International Economic Policy Coordination in EMU: Institutional Setting, Financial Market Reactions and the Importance of Systemic Risk," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 26(3), pages 281-286, September.
    21. Stefan Eichler & Tom Lähner, 2014. "Forecast dispersion, dissenting votes, and monetary policy preferences of FOMC members: the role of individual career characteristics and political aspects," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 429-453, September.
    22. Baldwin, Richard & Berglöf, Erik & Giavazzi, Francesco & Widgren, Mika, 2000. "EU Reforms for Tomorrow's Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 2623, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    23. Jan C. van Ours, 2022. "How Retirement Affects Mental Health, Cognitive Skills and Mortality; an Overview of Recent Empirical Evidence," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-050/V, Tinbergen Institute.

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