I have a confession to make: I love the Federal Reserve. And I suspect that, in their heart of hearts, most other economists love the Federal Reserve, too. But I fear our love may be in peril.



We live in a time when many public institutions seem to be failing us. The White House is in constant turmoil, with extraordinarily high turnover among top staff members. Congress is as polarized as ever, not having done much over the past two years other than pass the mess of the 2017 tax bill. Even the Supreme Court appears less dispassionate and more partisan than it should be.

I used to think that our system of higher education had pride of place among our institutions. But now I am less sure. Though I have long known that the system is far from perfect, its luster has recently been sullied by the issues raised in the lawsuit against Harvard, in which some Asian-American applicants are claiming discrimination, and by the college admissions scandal, in which some rich parents have been charged with cheating to get their children into top schools.

Which brings me back to the Federal Reserve. The nation’s central bank employs about 20,000 Americans. They monitor the economy, develop analyses to help set monetary policy and regulate the banking system. None are paid the extraordinary salaries found at the nation’s private banks. But they do their jobs with solemnity and tenacity and without a whiff of scandal. And, most important, they do their jobs well.