Governments as a whole have a lot of different hammers for monetary policy. It's just that every other one depends on the Congress understanding the problem and cooperating.
Technically they are (everybody who works for the Fed or the Bank of England gets a governmenT paycheck) and in a technical sense they aren’t, or try not to be (independent balance sheets).
But they are involved in policy decisions, being consulted and themselves asking. They do t have an independent mission the way, say, a trucking company does.
it's just as much government as the supreme court. senate confirmed presidential appointees. they have a dual mandate (price stability and low unemployment)
No they are not, though it's easy to understand the confusion. From the SF Feds website:
The Board of Governors—Located in Washington, D.C., Board members are appointed by the U.S. President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Board members and staff are civil service employees.
The 12 regional Reserve Banks—Located around the country, the 12 Federal Reserve Banks are chartered as private corporations. Employees are not civil service.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)—Composed of the Federal Reserve Governors and the Federal Reserve Bank presidents, the FOMC is charged with conducting monetary policy.
Yes, I'm aware of the legal fiction that they are not part of the government. But they are, as they are run by people appointed by the government, and therefore serve the government.
I rather think the fiction is that they serve the government, but I also have The Creature from Jekyll Island in the backseat for light reading so my perspective probably is heavily biased.
You aren't biased at all [1]. Our dear colleagues (along with the majority of the American populace) are just deeply ideologically committed to the idea of the Federal Reserve being a public institution, because they've been told this implicitly all their lives.
The truth, which is difficult to uncover and requires digging into some legislation, is of course unsettling, because it points to the nature of the American system and which institutions have power. Hint: if an institution is immune to bankruptcy or prosecution, it's probably the one in charge.
