Knowledge that Transforms

THE documents produced by the Patman inquiry are a remarkable contribution to monetary literature. The first title, Compendium for short, consists of replies to questions propounded by the committee. The first volume of the Compendium contains the careful answers of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to the lengthy questionnaires submitted to them. The second volume includes replies from the Presidents of Federal Reserve Banks, the Council of Economic Advisers, federal and state bank-examining authorities, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, economists, bankers, life insurance executives, and dealers in United States government securities. The questionnaires varied with the respondent and were designed to obtain both factual information and expressions of opinion. The answers provide a wealth of legal, institutional, statistical, and historical information. Whether you wish, for example, a complete chronology of Federal Reserve policy actions since I9I4, a summary of the reserve requirements of nonmember banks, a world survey of Treasurycentral bank relationships, or a study of the density of banking offices relative to population in the several states, the Patman Compendium is your source. The replies also provide a variety of opinion, comment, and theory concerning the role of monetary policy in the postwar United States economy. The second title, Hearings for short, reports oral testimony on these same subjects and includes also numerous documents and written statements submitted to the committee. The committee heard testimony from the principal contributors to the Compendium and from many others; the witnesses represented a wide variety of experience, interest, and viewpoint. The Hearings include four panel discussions on aspects of monetary policy. Two of these, How should our monetary and debt management policy be determined? (pp. 747 ff.) and What should our monetary and debt management policy be? (pp. 685 ff.), are especially deserving of the attention of the reader who can only hit the high spots of these volumes. The third title, Report for short, gives the findings and recommendations of the committee majority, with dissenting observations by Senator Douglas. The Report is an admirable review of the events investigated by the committee; and its findings on the issues discussed in the Compendium and Hearings are, in my opinion, well balanced and moderate. For this Report, and indeed for the skillful design of the whole inquiry, there can be no doubt that Henry C. Murphy, the committee's economist, deserves tremendous credit. It is patently impossible for a review to do justice to the masses of material in these three documents. I hope I have given some idea of their scope. For the rest, I shall confine myself to three major topics of the committee's inquiry: (i) the Treasury-Federal Reserve conflict, (2) the theory of the operation of monetary controls, (3) the place of monetary restriction in an anti-inflationary program. -

Journal Article A Rejoinder Get access Dudley Seers Dudley Seers New York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 21, Issue 3, 1953, Pages 229–231, https://doi.org/10.2307/2295778 Published: 01 January 1953

Journal Article The Problem of Oligopoly Get access J. N. Wolfe J. N. Wolfe Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 21, Issue 3, 1953, Pages 181–192, https://doi.org/10.2307/2295771 Published: 01 January 1953

Journal Article A Note on Variable Prices and Foreign Trade Multipliers Get access W. Beckerman W. Beckerman Paris Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 21, Issue 2, 1953, Pages 162–164, https://doi.org/10.2307/2296008 Published: 01 January 1953

Journal Article A Further Note on the Theory of Inflation Get access Arthur M. Okun Arthur M. Okun New Haven, Conn. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 21, Issue 3, 1953, Pages 244–245, https://doi.org/10.2307/2295781 Published: 01 January 1953

Journal Article Investment, Saving and the Inflationary Gap: Some Comments on Dr. Hansen's Models Get access K. K. F. Zawadzki K. K. F. Zawadzki London Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 21, Issue 1, 1953, Pages 63–73, https://doi.org/10.2307/2296260 Published: 01 January 1953

Journal Article The Role of National Income Estimates in the Statistical Policy of an Underdeveloped Area: A Comment Get access A. R. Prest A. R. Prest Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 21, Issue 3, 1953, Pages 223–228, https://doi.org/10.2307/2295777 Published: 01 January 1953