Federal reserve operations in the money and the government securities markets

THIS BOOKLET is the fourth of a series of publications by the TH Federal Reserve Bank of New York designed to furnish the student of banking with information, not readily available elsewhere, concerning various aspects of the national money market and factors affecting it. For some years, the men charged with carrying out the directions of the Federal Open Market Committee, through action taken at the Trading Desk of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, have faced an insistent series of requests to describe what is done: not the policy, nor its effects; simply a review of the manner in which operations are conducted. It has not been physically possible to meet more than a small fraction of those inquiries through occasional speeches, nor have the strains of a Trading Desk assignment (for reasons that may become clearer to those who read what follows) permitted any of the men active in this work to take time out for preparation of the comprehensive manuscript that is undoubtedly needed. However, over the past two years, the author of this booklet has carried the main load of the speak ing assignments that could be fulfilled. A number of those who have heard his oral presentation have suggested that he write down the main outline that has emerged from his various ex temporaneous efforts, filling in some of the more significant details. This booklet is the result of an effort to respond to those requests.