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Journal Article
A visible hand: the Fed's involvement in the check payments system
It is common knowledge that the Federal Reserve System was originally set up to provide the nation with a stable currency and a sound banking system. Less well known, however, is why the Fed was given an operating role in the nation's payments system. In this article, James N. Duprey and Clarence W. Nelson describe the problems of the check payments system before the Fed was created, suggest reasons why the private sector was unable to resolve them, and indicate how the framers of the Federal Reserve Act intended to have the Fed resolve them. Duprey and Nelson argue that while a unified ...