The Federal Reserve was created as an independent agency, and a broad consensus has emerged among policymakers, academics, and other informed observers around the world that better overall economic performance is achieved when the conduct of monetary policy is free from political control.10 Of course, we are accountable to the Congress and the American people.
The Congress has given us a job to do, and as long as I am a member of the Federal Reserve Board, I will do my utmost to carry out our mandate. Other observations The authors note that Federal Reserve asset purchases shorten the duration of debt held by the public, by the issuance of reserves to fund purchases of long-term securities.