Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17390
Authors: Lars E.O. Svensson
Abstract: Marvin Goodfriend’s paper “Monetary Mystique: Secrecy and Central Banking” is a masterpiece: It is an extremely well-written, meticulous, and fair analysis and critique of the Federal Reserve’s defense of its practice of secrecy in monetary policy and central banking. His critique was devastating, and he completely demolished the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) arguments in the most precise and convincing way.Nevertheless, it took the Fed many years to reach the current standards of transparency and accountability in monetary policy.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: E52; E58
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Goodfriend's critique (Y30) | Federal Reserve's increased transparency (E52) |
| Goodfriend's critique (Y30) | weaknesses in Fed's arguments for secrecy (E58) |
| legal challenges under the Freedom of Information Act (L43) | Fed's articulation of defense of secrecy (G28) |
| public discourse and scrutiny (D72) | shift in policy (O24) |
| shift in policy (O24) | Fed's embrace of transparency measures (G28) |