Federal Reserve Membership and Monetary Control

This report discusses the current state of monetary policy. Questions about the continued capability of the Federal Reserve System (FRS) to exercise effective monetary control were raised in connection with several developments over recent years that diminished, in relative terms, the deposit component of the stock of money over which the FRS maintained reserve requirement controls. The Monetary Control Act, Title 1 of P.L. 96-221 was designed to ensure that the FRS as ability to conduct monetary policy is not diminished. This Act, signed into law on Mar. 31, 1980, is one of the few major amendments to the original Federal Reserve Act of 1913.