The Role of a Regional Bank in a System of Central Banks

After assessing the role of a Reserve Bank in the Federal Reserve System, the author compares the Eurosystem with the Fed System, and offers suggestions for the Eurosystem based on the Fed’s experience. A regional presence facilitates surveillance of the economy and helps a central bank to communicate with the public. Competition among regional banks stimulates innovative thinking on operational, research, and policy questions. The Chairman (President) of the system should be strong enough to encourage diverse views in the monetary policy committee and to build a consensus for decisive and timely policy actions as needed.