Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Headquarters buildings

The bank first occupied the R.A. Long Building at 928 Grand in Downtown Kansas City, which opened on November 16, 1914. It then moved across the street once a new $4.3 million building was constructed at 925 Grand, which formally opened in November 1921. Shortly after it was established, the bank rented space to outside tenants. President Harry S. Truman had his office in Room 1107 of the building from when he left the Presidency in 1953 until the Truman Library was completed in 1957.

In 2002, the bank announced plans to build a new facility at 1 Memorial Drive 20 blocks south at 29th and Main on 15.6 acre on a hilltop south of the Liberty Memorial. The historic 925 Grand Building was the oldest building of any Federal Reserve Bank operating at that time. It was sold to Townsend LLC in March 2005 and the Reserve leased back the structure until the new building opened in spring 2008. It was designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

Economic policy symposium

Main article: Jackson Hole Economic Symposium

Since 1978, the Kansas City Fed has held an annual economic policy symposium. From 1978–1981, it was held at different locations, and from 1982 it has been held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. From 1978 to 1981 the symposia focused on agricultural economic issues. Since 1981 topics have been more broad and the symposia have gotten broader attention.

In 2003 and 2005, papers were presented at the symposium that were critical of the status quo, and predicted problems with the unseen risks of derivatives. These ideas in these papers were rejected at the time, but later were seen as having predicted the 2008 financial crisis.

Jackson Hole Consensus

The 2014 edition of the symposium was widely anticipated. Featuring a speech by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, it was depicted as the point of emergence of a new consensus in the economics doctrine and institutions, stressing the importance of aggregate demand, countercyclical investments and fiscal policy in opposition to the so-called austerity policies of the Washington Consensus and Berlin View. This paved the way for quantitative easing to begin in 2015.

The Money Museum

The Fed operates a museum at its new site, called The Money Museum. It offers visitors opportunities to learn about the functions of the Federal Reserve system and America's financial systems. Features of the museum include interactive exhibits, a visit to the automated, multi-story cash vault where millions of dollars are secured — one of the largest in the region, viewing of the Harry S. Truman Coin Collection, and an opportunity to lift a real gold bar. The museum is open weekdays for self-guided tours and for one-hour guided tours, except holidays.

Branches

• Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Denver Branch
• Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Oklahoma City Branch
• Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Omaha Branch

Leaders of the bank

A list of leaders of the Kansas City Federal Reserve are listed below.

• Charles Manville Sawyer, Governor (1914–1916)
• Jo Zach Miller Jr., Governor (1916–1922)
• Willis Joshua Bailey, Governor (1922–1932)
• George Henry Hamilton, Governor/President (1932–1941)
• Harold Gavin Leedy, President (1941–1961)
• George H. Clay, President (1961–1976)
• J. Roger Guffey, President (1976–1991)
• Thomas M. Hoenig, President (1991–2011)
• Esther George, President (2011–2023)
• Kelly Dubbert, Acting President (2023)
• Jeffrey Schmid, President (2023–present)

Chairs

Following are chairs of the board of directors of the Kansas City Federal Reserve since 1992.

Board of directors

The following people are on the board of directors :

According to the Kansas City's website the directors blended as follows:

Class A - Three Class A directors represent commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. These directors are bankers who are nominated and elected by member banks within the Tenth Federal Reserve District, which includes western Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado and northern New Mexico. Under the Class A category, a director will be elected by a specific group of member banks classified as either 1, 2 or 3. This classification is based on the total amount of capital and surplus for each commercial bank, with Group 1 banks being the largest. Each group within the class elects one director.

Class B - Three Class B directors represent the public. Class B directors may not be an officer, director or employee of a bank or bank holding company. These directors are also elected by member banks under the same categories as Class A directors.

Class C - Three Class C directors also represent the public, but are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This adds another layer to the blending of public and private control over the nation's central bank. The Board of Governors also selects both the chairman and deputy chairman of each regional Federal Reserve Bank's board of directors from among the Class C directors. These directors are highly insulated from banking relationships. They may not be an officer, director or employee of a bank or bank holding company. Additionally, these directors may not own stock in a bank or a bank holding company.

Popular culture

The heist in the 2008 movie Mad Money takes place at a fictitious version of the bank.

References

References

1. [http://www.kc.frb.org/infofrkc/timeline.htm -Timeline - Official Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Website] {{webarchive. link. (December 10, 2006)
2. "Truman Places: Federal Reserve Bank - Trumanlibrary.org - Retrieved January 5, 2008". TrumanLibrary.org.
3. [http://www.kansascityfed.org/Pubaffrs/PRESSREL/pr05-05.htm Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Announces Sale of Headquarters Building - March 15, 2005 - Official Press Release] {{webarchive. link. (September 30, 2006)
4. "Frequently Asked Questions".
5. [http://www.kansascityfed.org/publications/research/escp/archive.cfm Economic Symposium Conference Proceedings. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City] {{webarchive. link. (2014-09-29)
6. "Economic Symposium Conference Proceedings {{!}} Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City".
7. Wiseman, Paul. (30 August 2012). "Why world markets focus on tiny Jackson Hole, Wyo.". USA Today.
8. "Jackson Hole Symposium - kc.frb.org - Retrieved August 22, 2009". kc.frb.org.
9. Lahart, Justin. "Mr. Rajan Was Unpopular (But Prescient) at Greenspan Party". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
10. Lahart, Justin. "Ignoring the Oracles: You Are With the Free Markets, or Against Them". The Wall Street Journal.
11. (8 July 2009). "The Man Nobody Wanted to Hear". Spiegel Online International.
12. "Whither Monetary and Financial Stability? The Implications of Evolving Policy Regimes".
13. Rajan. "Rajan specific 'warning' papers here (2005)".
14. "How Jackson Hole became such an important economic talking shop". The Economist.
15. (22 August 2014). "Unemployment in the euro area".
16. "Can Mario Draghi save the euro again?". The Washington Post.
17. "Draghi steals the show at Jackson Hole".
18. (2014-10-06). "The Lost Consistency of European Policy Makers".
19. Blackstone, Brian. (2014-08-22). "ECB's Mario Draghi Signals Departure From Austerity Focus". The Wall Street Journal.
20. (2016-08-25). "A Peek at More Than Three Decades of Jackson Hole Economic Gabfests". Bloomberg.com.
21. [http://www.kansascityfed.org/moneymuseum/includes/index.cfm Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, ''The Money Museum''] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-08-24 , Uploaded 25 July 2008.)
22. "Archived copy".
23. "Kansas City Fed's new chief is a veteran banking executive".
24. "Kansas City Alumni Directors | Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City".
25. (8 December 2013). "Directors of Federal Reserve Banks and Branches". [[The Federal Reserve]].
26. "Board of Directors | Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City".