This research is based on several sources of information. First, and most important, is the public record. There is a vast amount of public information about monetary policy making. Probably most important are the various kinds of records of the FOMC. Detailed Minutes of the FOMC have been made public with a five-year lag and extend through 1976. With the onset of pressure for greater openness in policy making in 1976–7, the Federal Reserve responded by shortening the time in which it released the record of policy actions from ninety to thirty days and discontinued the practice of keeping “almost verbatim” minutes. Instead, it now publishes a longer policy record in the Federal Reserve Bulletin, a record substantially less revealing than the detailed Minutes, a tradeoff of rapid availability for detail. I am assured that the published record accurately and fairly reflects the issues discussed in meetings. However, for purposes of political analysis of the FOMC, the new procedure is significantly less revealing.

Accuracy of the pre–1977 Minutes

The pre–1977 Minutes, which as of this writing are available through 1975, are in an edited, semiverbatim form, based on transcriptions of tape recordings of meetings. Copies are available to the public at Federal Reserve Board offices and at all Federal Reserve banks, and microfilm copies may be purchased from the National Archives. Debate is reported in the third person.