A Federal Reserve Bank was established in Kansas City, as well as 11 other major cities across the United States, to make sure the views of communities nationwide had a voice in Federal Reserve policy. The founders knew that such broad-based participation would lead to better decision making.
This structure is replicated on the Federal Open Market Committee, which is the body that makes decisions about our nation’s monetary policy through changes in an interest rate known as the federal funds rate, and, over the last couple of years, changes in the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and the interest rate it pays on excess reserves.