20 For a discussion of these issues, see Marvin Goodfriend (1999), “The Role of a Regional Bank in a System of Central Banks,” Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, vol. 51 (December), pp. 51-71. - 11 The Fed is accountable to Congress and the public for its activities and decisions. Historically, the activities of central banks were shrouded in mystery.
Montagu Norman, the famously secretive Governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944, reportedly took as his personal motto, “Never explain, never excuse” (figure 11). 21 In the modern era, all that has changed, as central banks have come to see transparency both as a requirement of democratic accountability and as a way of supporting the efficacy of their policies.