Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Nickname
St. Louis Fed
Founding Date
1914
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis comprises one of twelve reserve banks in the Federal Reserve System. It is responsible for the eighth district in the United States. It provides cash to banks within its district and monitors electronic deposits. St. Louis Fed is also responsible for maintaining the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED) as well as hosting the National Economy Museum.
- The St. Louis Fed has branch offices in Little Rock, Louisville, and Memphis.
- Its territory include:
- In the 1960s, under the influence of the bank’s research director Homer Jones together with renowned economist Milton Friedman, the St. Louis Fed became the first to adopt the concept of monetarism.
- The two argued that central banks should direct monetary policy primarily to counteract inflation.
- At this time, monetarism was considered a fringe theory, but it is now accepted practice.
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Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) - Every six weeks, the president of the St. Louis Fed, along with the presidents of the other 11 banks and the seven governors of the Federal Reserve Board, meet to set interest rates.