IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fip/fedlrv/00047.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economics and Politics in Selecting Federal Reserve Cities: Why Missouri Has Two Reserve Banks

Author

Abstract

Missouri is the only state with two Federal Reserve Banks, and it has long been alleged that political influence explains why Reserve Banks were placed in both St. Louis and Kansas City. Both the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a powerful member of the Senate Banking Committee hailed from Missouri, which at the time was a solidly Democratic state. The committee charged with selecting cities for Reserve Banks and drawing the boundaries of Federal Reserve Districts claimed that its decisions were based solely on economic grounds, including existing banking and business ties, transportation and communications networks, and the convenience and preferences of the Fed?s future member banks. Both St. Louis and Kansas City were among the top choices of bankers, many of whom had established correspondent relationships with banks in the two cities. St. Louis and Kansas City also served distinct markets?St. Louis to the south and east, and Kansas City to the west and southwest. Moreover, Kansas City dominated its rivals for a Reserve Bank serving western states, especially in terms of banker preferences and railroad connections. Thus, while it is impossible to rule out a role for politics in the selection of either city for a Reserve Bank, let alone both of them, both cities were reasonable choices for Banks on the basis of the stated criteria of the System?s founders.

Suggested Citation

  • David C. Wheelock, 2015. "Economics and Politics in Selecting Federal Reserve Cities: Why Missouri Has Two Reserve Banks," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 97(4), pages 269-288.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:00047
    DOI: 10.20955/r.2015.269-88
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/2015-12-07//economics-and-politics-in-selecting-federal-reserve-cities-why-missouri-has-two-reserve-banks.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.20955/r.2015.269-88
    File Function: http://dx.doi.org/10.20955/r.2015.269-88
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.20955/r.2015.269-88?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John A. James & David F. Weiman, 2010. "From Drafts to Checks: The Evolution of Correspondent Banking Networks and the Formation of the Modern U.S. Payments System, 1850–1914," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(2‐3), pages 237-265, March.
    2. Charles W. Calomiris & Gary Gorton, 1991. "The Origins of Banking Panics: Models, Facts, and Bank Regulation," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Markets and Financial Crises, pages 109-174, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Mark Carlson, 2015. "Lessons from the Historical Use of Reserve Requirements in the United States to Promote Bank Liquidity," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 11(1), pages 191-224, January.
    4. Bordo,Michael D. & Roberds,William (ed.), 2013. "The Origins, History, and Future of the Federal Reserve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107013728, October.
    5. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1991. "Financial Markets and Financial Crises," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number glen91-1.
    6. O. M. W. Sprague, 1914. "The Federal Reserve Act of 1913," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 28(2), pages 213-254.
    7. Matthew Jaremski & David C. Wheelock, 2015. "Banker Preferences, Interbank Connections, and the Enduring Structure of the Federal Reserve System," Working Papers 2015-11, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    8. Odell, Kerry A. & Weiman, David F., 1998. "Metropolitan Development, Regional Financial Centers, and the Founding of the Fed in the Lower South," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(1), pages 103-125, March.
    9. David Hammes, 2001. "Locating Federal Reserve districts and headquarters cities," The Region, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 15(Sep), pages 24-27,55-65.
    10. McAvoy, Michael R., 2006. "How were the Federal Reserve Bank locations selected?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 505-526, July.
    11. Wicker,Elmus, 2000. "Banking Panics of the Gilded Age," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521770231, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock, 2018. "Furnishing an “Elastic Currency”: The Founding of the Fed and the Liquidity of the U.S. Banking System," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 100(1), pages 17-44.
    2. Araujo, Luiz Nelson, 2016. "Dissemination of Information by the Federal Reserve System: An Overview and Benchmark," MPRA Paper 73185, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthew S. Jaremski & David C. Wheelock, 2015. "Banker Preferences, Interbank Connections, and the Enduring Structure of the Federal Reserve System," NBER Working Papers 21553, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Mark Carlson & David C. Wheelock, 2018. "Did the Founding of the Federal Reserve Affect the Vulnerability of the Interbank System to Contagion Risk?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(8), pages 1711-1750, December.
    3. Jaremski, Matthew & Wheelock, David C., 2020. "The Founding of the Federal Reserve, the Great Depression, and the Evolution of the U.S. Interbank Network," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(1), pages 69-99, March.
    4. Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock, 2016. "Did the Founding of the Federal Reserve Affect the Vulnerability of the Interbank System to Systemic Risk?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2016-059, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Jaremski, Matthew, 2018. "The (dis)advantages of clearinghouses before the Fed," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(3), pages 435-458.
    6. Calomiris, Charles W. & Carlson, Mark, 2017. "Interbank networks in the National Banking Era: Their purpose and their role in the Panic of 1893," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 434-453.
    7. Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock, 2018. "Furnishing an “Elastic Currency”: The Founding of the Fed and the Liquidity of the U.S. Banking System," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 100(1), pages 17-44.
    8. Calomiris, Charles W. & Flandreau, Marc & Laeven, Luc, 2016. "Political foundations of the lender of last resort: A global historical narrative," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    9. Haelim Anderson & Mark Paddrik & Jessie Jiaxu Wang, 2019. "Bank Networks and Systemic Risk: Evidence from the National Banking Acts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3125-3161, September.
    10. Hoag, Christopher, 2018. "Clearinghouse loan certificates as a lender of last resort," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 215-229.
    11. Owen F. Humpage, 2023. "On the Origins of the Federal Reserve System and Its Structure," Working Papers 23-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    12. Christopher Hoag, 2019. "Liquidity and Borrowing from a Lender of Last Resort during the Crisis of 1884," Working Papers 1901, Trinity College, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2019.
    13. Gorton, Gary & Huang, Lixin, 2006. "Bank panics and the endogeneity of central banking," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 1613-1629, October.
    14. Davison, Lee K. & Ramirez, Carlos D., 2014. "Local banking panics of the 1920s: Identification and determinants," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 164-177.
    15. Dasgupta, Amil, 2002. "Financial contagion through capital connections: a model of the origin and spread of bank panics," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24956, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Carlson, Mark, 2005. "Causes of bank suspensions in the panic of 1893," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 56-80, January.
    17. Parinitha Sastry, 2018. "The political origins of Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue 24-1, pages 1-33.
    18. Haelim Anderson & Charles W. Calomiris & Matthew Jaremski & Gary Richardson, 2018. "Liquidity Risk, Bank Networks, and the Value of Joining the Federal Reserve System," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(1), pages 173-201, February.
    19. Christopher Hoag, 2019. "Bank Executive Experience with Clearinghouse Loan Certificates," Working Papers 1903, Trinity College, Department of Economics.
    20. Gary Gorton & Ellis W. Tallman, 2016. "How Did Pre-Fed Banking Panics End?," Working Papers (Old Series) 1603, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • N22 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:00047. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Scott St. Louis (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbslus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.