Transcripts of more than 50 interviews with former Federal Reserve chairs, board members and key professional staff that chronicle the history of the central bank are now publicly available, the agency announced Friday.
In a release, the Fed said the transcripts include those from interviews with former chairs Janet Yellen, Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker. They provide the individuals’ personal recollections and their recounting of key economic, monetary policy and regulatory developments. “They also provide impressions of life and culture at the Federal Reserve Board,” the Fed said.
The interviews were conducted as part of the Fed’s marking of the 100th anniversary of the central bank, which began in 2013. The Fed said that, following the interview, each participant had the opportunity to edit and revise the transcript. In some cases, the Fed staff also removed confidential Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and Fed Board material “in accordance with records retention and disposition schedules covering Federal Open Market Committee and Board records that were approved by the National Archives and Records Administration.”
Other interviews include those with former board vice chairs Alan S. Blinder, Alice M. Rivlin, and Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. (among others); former board members Lyle E. Gramley, Wayne D. Angell, Susan M. Phillips, Edward M. Gramlich, Susan S. Bies, and Mark Olson (among others).
Former staff also recording interviews include (among others): Joseph R. Coyne, Former Assistant to the Board for Public Affairs; Stephen H. Axilrod, Former Staff Director for Monetary and Financial Policy; Griffith L. Garwood, Former Director, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs; Kenneth A. Guenther, Former Assistant to the Board; Stephen R. Malphrus, Former Staff Director, Division of Management; John E. Ryan, Former Director, Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation; and David J. Stockton, Former Director, Division of Research and Statistics.
A transcript of an interview with E. Gerald Corrigan, former president, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is also included.