Working Paper Climate and Economic Transformation

A Federal Reserve Reform Agenda: Eight Recommendations

September 25, 2020

By Mike Konczal

The Federal Reserve has been and will be vital in addressing multiple economic crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, long-standing structural racism, and the worsening effects of climate change.

To address these concerns successfully, the Federal Reserve must do the following:

Expand a policy and research agenda prioritizing racial equity.
Make institutional fixes to the Federal Reserve itself.
Provide postal banking services with FedAccount backing.
Offer clear and direct support for public lending.
Lend directly and aggressively to businesses.
Lend more aggressively to states and municipalities.
Fix corporate governance and the financial sector to discourage short-termism.
Helicopter money toward recovery and climate change.

Tags: Climate Justice, Corporate Governance, Democratic Governance, Gender Equity, Industrial Policy and Trade, Race Equity

Author

Mike Konczal

Former Director, Macroeconomic Analysis

As former director of Roosevelt’s macroeconomic analysis team, Mike Konczal led research focused on achieving full employment, building an economy that truly works for everybody, and developing the next generation of economic ideas.