For the past 18 months, the Center for Popular Democracy and our partners have been leading Fed Up, the national campaign calling on the Federal Reserve to promote full employment and rising wages and to reform its governance so that it actually represents the American people. This month, the campaign took a major step forward by unveiling a proposal for Congressional reform of the Fed.

The reform proposal was authored by Andrew Levin, professor of economics at Dartmouth and former advisor to Fed Chair Ben Bernanke and then Vice Chair Janet Yellen, who has since replaced Bernanke as Chair. This proposal was released on a press call, outlining the points to multiple press outlets, with participation by the executive directors of CPD partners Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change.  

The core of our proposal is simple: The Federal Reserve must become a fully public entity that serves the interests of the American people. Currently, the Fed is a semi-private institution that is actually owned by Wall Street and commercial banks around the country that appoint many of its most important leaders. It is the country’s worst example of regulatory capture: Wall Street banks literally own the institution that is supposed to supervise their behavior. We believe that has to change if the Federal Reserve is going to build an economy that serves the interests of working families.

Our proposal was greeted by extensive coverage in the financial and economics press, much of which echoed our calls for reform.