Journal Article

Senator Robert Owen of Oklahoma and the Federal Reserve's formative years

Abstract: U.S. Senator Robert Owen of Oklahoma played a key role in the formation of the Federal Reserve in the early twentieth century. He championed the creation of a quasi-public central bank with a decentralized structure. Author Chad Wilkerson explores how Senator Owen contributed to the Fed's early development and sought a Fed structure that would avoid placing too much control either in a centralized agency in Washington, D.C., or in a small number of Wall Street bankers. Owen generally praised the Fed's early performance but became a critic in the early 1920s, and again in the 1930s, when its deflationary policies were especially harmful to the agricultural economy of his home region.

Keywords: ; Federal Reserve - History; Robert;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Part of Series: Economic Review

Publication Date: 2013

Issue: Q III

Pages: 95-117