Federal Reserve Board: Board Issues 2021 Office of Minority and Women Inclusion Report; The Fed Ignores Its Ongoing Systematic Discrimination Practices

Introduction: The Board’s OMWI Office Started after a Loss at the D.C. Circuit in 2011

Whenever I read the Report to the Congress on the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI), I am reminded of the Artis v. Greenspan case. (I urge prospective and current employees to read the D.C. Circuit case and to search Artis v. Greenspan on the Internet and on this blog.)

On January 11, 2011, the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion that was against the Federal Reserve (Fed or Board) stating that the plaintiffs had presented sufficient information for the Fed’s EEO Office to start an investigation (nearly 2 decades before).

Also on January 11, 2011, the Fed announced that it was creating an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. The EEO Director, Sheila Clark, who was named in the Artis opinion, was named to lead the OMWI office.

Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in the Auerbach book, page 123).

I become irritated reading these OMWI reports because the Board never acknowledges its Jim Crow reality: the agency hates to have black people as employees. It shows in the low performance management program, or PMP, ratings for black employees. The Artis case took 18 years to resolve, largely because of Fed intransigence. In addition, Professor Robert Auerbach wrote a book about the Fed, “Deception and Abuse at the Fed,” in which chapter 8 detailed the Fed’s anti-black stances.

In 2021, the report detailed Chairman Jerome Powell’s reaction to the police-officer killing of Mr. George Floyd. Notably, the Board’s terrible history of racial and sex discrimination was not discussed.

• Artis v. Greenspan/Bernanke/Yellen. An apology and corrective action are due to the former plaintiffs and all former and current black Board employees.
• Diversity Report and the institutional bias to issue lower ratings to black employees.
• Dr. Claudia Sahm’s detailed report of her mistreatment as a Ph.D. economist.
• Sheila Clark was involved in the abuses and the Board is still silent on the systemic discrimination issues at the Board. This alone speaks volumes as to the intent of the Board.
• Sheila Clark provided testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, which was not mentioned in the report. (I wrote a critical post about it.)
• The Board must address the injustice of following “colorblindness” in macroeconomics. The United States is not “colorblind“. The U.S. system favors the white majority population.

While Chairman Powell did more substantive work in the diversity and inclusion area, ultimately it was for issues external to the Board. The Board continues to ignore its own serious problems. For Sheila Clark and ultimately the Board Chairman to submit these reports without a full accounting of Fed’s discriminatory past and present is beyond disgrace.

Unlike in 2020, an analyst can locate the link for the OMWI materials. Notification that the report was issued is missing. I know about it because I have been looking for it. So the Board is still not doing its best to ensure that this report is known like the Board does for its economics-related materials.

Regardless of whoever is the director of OMWI, the one person that is accountable for the diversity and inclusion policies of the Fed is the Board Chairman, who is, at the time of this post, Jerome Powell. Jerome Powell appears to be extremely lax in this area. He has a Presidential commission; Sheila Clark does not.

As a result, Chairman Powell must take the lead and provide directives to make the Fed improve. If a multimillionaire like Chairman Powell cannot get the job done, the situation is hopeless.

Sidebar: Claims that “America Is Not a Racist Country” Are Wicked–Denial of Systematic Discrimination and the Effects on Non-White People

Tim Scott, a Senator from South Carolina had the nerve to proclaim that “America is not a racist country.” Vice President Kamala Harris affirmed Scott’s statement while offering an empty semantic clarification that deflects to individuals that express racial animus (which gives succor to wicked “colorblindness” and systematic discrimination policy).

Both statements are wicked in that the effect of policy to treat Black people as second-class citizens is assigned to people who proclaim white supremacy (the ku klux klan and so on). The corrosive effect of systematic discriminatory policies–such as redlining, highway construction, property deeds, Joe Biden’s 1994 crime bill, and more–are ignored.

Uncle Tim Scott has perfected the art of sycophantic bootlicking. He’s a master step n fetch it artist and cunning white supremacy apologist, who demonstrated his buck dancing skills in front of the entire world.

“Hear me clearly, America is not a racist country”

– @TimScottSC pic.twitter.com/C7fgye7tcU

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) April 29, 2021

At the Federal Reserve, Black people have suffered systematic injustice, as shown in Dr. Robert Auerbach’s book “Deception and Abuse at the Fed,” chapter 8, as well as in the Artis case. Even in recent years, the Fed (and other federal financial agencies) assigns lower performance ratings to Black employees, starting the process of removing these employees from employment. Vice President Harris’s statement does nothing for those who suffer from this cavalier and tolerated discrimination.

As you can see with my blog post, the Fed is exceptionally stubborn in correcting its own anti-Black policies.

(I ignore the word “racist” as it is a nebulous term that people with power can define however they want. Such is the power of white hegemony. The better term is racial abuse, receiving discriminatory treatment based on the color of one’s skin or membership in a minority group in the society.)

The Diversity and Inclusion Activities of the Fed: More Substantive Yet Willfully Ignores Systemic Discrimination within the Board

Chairman Powell commendably did much more tangible and substantive diversity and inclusion work (see page 14 of the report). However, that work was entirely focused on matters external to the Board or on forming committees. Chairman Powell did not mention any work on addressing the Board’s systematic discriminatory policies and practices. This particular time seems to be most relevant for such a discussion.

• The Board decided to re-institute a diversity and inclusion strategic plan.
• The ODI program director (Sheila Clark) provides the Fed Chairman and the governors with regular briefing sessions (page 4 of the report).
• The report states that ODI works with Employee Relations (page 4 of the report). An interested reader must review the fact situation in the Artis case. This particular collaboration is not necessarily for the employee’s benefit.

Moreover, Dorey stated that “her managers discussed her leave requests with human resources and shared personal information with other employees, including Rena Carlton, an employee relations specialist. Dorey also claimed that the Board’s EEO Director, Sheila Clark, and EEO Counselor, Millie Wiggins, discouraged her from filing a previous EEO complaint alleging discrimination in her performance rating.

Artis v. Bernanke, No. 09-5121 (D.C. Cir. 2011), page 12.

Board Hiring and Promotions, 2017-2020
	2017	2018	2019	2020
Positions filled	399	505	499	599
Interns	111	116	128	95
Positions filled w/o counting interns	288	389	371	504
Total number of Board employees	2745	2773	2786	2887
Percentage of new non-intern hires over total number of employees	10.5%	14.0%	13.3%	17.5%

The Chairman did more work in diversity and inclusion in 2020. However, more work is expected on addressing failures specific to the Board, namely the issues uncovered in the Artis case and in the Inspector General’s report from 2015. Until these items are complete, these reports will continue to be below expectations.

Federal Reserve Board, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, Reports to Congress

(Preface language for the report submitted in 2015.) “Pursuant to section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must submit an annual report to the Congress outlining the activities, successes, and challenges of the office. This is the office’s report for calendar year 2014. Sheila Clark serves as the director of ODI.”

Year	Link
2012	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2012-omwi-preface.htm
2013	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2013-omwi-preface.htm
2014	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2014-omwi-preface.htm
2015	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2015-omwi-preface.htm
2016	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/files/omwi-report-20160331.pdf
2017	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20170331.pdf
2018	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20180330.pdf
2019	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20190329.pdf
2020	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/March-2020-Report-to-the-Congress-on-the-Office-of-Minority-and-Women-Inclusion.htm
2021	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/March-2021-Report-to-the-Congress-on-the-Office-of-Minority-and-Women-Inclusion.htm

Conclusion

With this report, serious concern remains that the Board is not committed to addressing the failures of its past and present. I commend Chairman Powell for a good start; the best outcome is to address, point out, and correct the Board’s systematic discriminatory practices and policies. The experience of the long-running Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen case casts a profound shadow over the Board for diversity and inclusion issues. It is up to the Board to redeem itself; regrettably, it is still failing.

Federal Reserve Board: Board Issues 2020 Office of Minority and Women Inclusion Report; The Fed Has Failed in Epic Fashion

Introduction

Whenever I read the Report to the Congress on the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI), I remember the Artis v. Greenspan case. On January 11, 2011, the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion that was against the Federal Reserve stating that the plaintiffs had presented sufficient information for the Fed’s EEO Office to start an investigation (after nearly 20 years).

Also on January 11, 2011, the Fed announced that it was creating an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. The EEO Director, Sheila Clark, who was named in the Artis opinion, was named to lead the OMWI office.

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Clark Testified before House Financial Services Subcommittee; My Extreme Disappointment

Author’s Note (Nov. 1, 2020): I discovered that Sheila Clark testified at a House Financial Services diversity and inclusion subcommittee hearing titled “Holding Financial Regulators Accountable for Diversity and Inclusion: Perspectives from the Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion.”

Among other statements, Clark mentioned that she sits in performance evaluation meetings to ensure fairness and equity.

I laughed out loud with this statement (and with this hearing). I take it she means that she is literally in the room with her mouth shut while the careers of targeted employees are destroyed.

This hearing was truly disappointing. Given the suffering at the Fed with the Artis case, it is an insult that it was not even mentioned.

Clark does nothing to contradict management. (See Clark’s letter in Dr. Auerbach’s book later in this article.) What about Dr. Sahm’s blog? Shamefully, it was not addressed!

Given that issues in this article as well as Artis were not discussed, the House subcommittee hearing was, sadly, useless.

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I become irritated reading these OMWI reports because the Board never acknowledges its Jim Crow reality: the agency hates to have black people as employees (see Artis). It shows in the low performance management program, or PMP, ratings for black employees. The Artis case took 18 years to resolve, largely because of Fed intransigence. In addition, Professor Robert Auerbach wrote a book about the Fed, “Deception and Abuse at the Fed,” in which chapter 8 detailed the Fed’s anti-black stances.

For Sheila Clark and, ultimately, the Board Chairman to submit these reports without a full accounting of Fed’s discriminatory past and present is beyond disgrace.

Board Hiring and Promotions, 2016-2019
	2016	2017	2018	2019
Positions filled	576	399	505	499
Interns	127	111	116	128
Positions filled w/o counting interns	449	288	389	371
Total number of Board employees	2766	2745	2773	2786
Percentage of new non-intern hires over total number of employees	16.2%	10.5%	14.0%	13.3%

Nevertheless, I read every OMWI report because I want the Fed to know that these reports, this year submitted in stealth as the country deals with the COVID-19 crisis, will not pass by me without comment. I will scour the Fed’s website to find each report. I will dissect the report to see the changes made each year.

A recent blog post by Dr. Claudia Sahm on the absence of black economists at the Federal Reserve and within the Economics profession shows that the Fed’s OMWI department is not doing enough to improve the situation.

‘bout time and long way to go. fact: none of 400+ PhD economists at ⁦@federalreserve⁩ are Black. last one retired recently. https://t.co/DCRG95WuRh

— Claudia Sahm (@Claudia_Sahm) January 16, 2021

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On Dr. Claudia Sahm’s Critique of Her Experience at the Federal Reserve Board

I recently became aware of another blog post of Dr. Claudia Sahm, a former economist at the Federal Reserve Board. I read her story with horror and recognition. I believe Dr. Sahm; I just did not realize how roughly female Ph.D. economists (and some the research assistants) were treated. (Other non-Ph.D. staff also do not have a proper workplace.)

Board Offices for Employee Relations and EEO Are Hot Messes; Dr. Sahm Is Blessed for Not Having to Deal with Them

The only thing that I could advise Dr. Sahm is that she should be glad she did not get involved with Employee Relations (ER) (according to the Artis case, ER specialists report complaints to the problematic people and indeed turn to blame the victim like what Dr. Sahm mentioned in her blog post.

People should keep in mind that ER is part of the Management Division. As such, ER cares nothing about employees; complaints are viewed as threats to management! ER and Sheila Clark would never challenge management, especially “officers”. The 18-year plus Artis case also showed that the Board’s EEO office is useless.  Sheila Clark is the long-time leader of the Board’s EEO office and (as noted above) named in the Artis case.

Sheila Clark being in charge of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion and the EEO Office is a sign that the Board is not serious. Ms. Clark’s claim of effectiveness—that she has the ear of the Chair of the Board—is destroyed by the blog post of Dr. Sahm.

Incredibly, Dr. Sahm also had the ear of former Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Chair Janet Yellen. While they provided a conscientious ear, both Benanke and Yellen (while nice people) ultimately were shamefully powerless millionaires and were satisfied to do nothing.

Chairman Jerome Powell’s Statement about Dr. Sahm’s Blog Post is Weak Tea

Similar to Bernanke and Yellen, multimillionaire Board Chairman Jerome Powell shows that he too is “powerless”–a wealthy lawyer unwilling to implement corrective action! His statement at a Fed press conference is exceptionally weak tea.  In the OMWI report, it is said that he and Sheila Clark meet regularly. Clearly, the meetings are not effective!

Moreover, for the Board to be proclaiming platitudes of a fair and welcoming workplace is offensive, given that Chairman Powell did practically nothing in 2020 in terms of diversity and inclusion. (See the rest of the blog post for more on this.) With the Artis case and Dr. Sahm’s experience, the Board’s response is not worthy of respect.

There’s been a lot of pain and injustice and unfair treatment that women have experienced in the workplace – not just among economists, but among economists and at the Fed – that’s been going on for far too long,” Powell said. “Like every other organization the Fed could have done more and should have done more.

Al Jazeera (see also preliminary FOMC transcript, page 21)

Board Inspector General: A Toothless Tiger

The Inspector General is no better; the office is a toothless tiger.

• The Board Chairman sets the budget for the Inspector General’s office.
• The Board Chairman also selects the Inspector General.

Let this sink in: Aggrieved people have no refuge at the Federal Reserve Board.

Conclusion

The Board uses a ruthless “rank and yank” policy, called the Performance Management Program, or PMP. As Dr. Sahm noted in her essay, her so-called ally signed a bad evaluation, which is the start of the slippery slope of termination.

The Board is a whited sepulcher (Matthew 23:27). I am grateful for Dr. Sahm’s blog post; it is long past time for a complete reckoning of discrimination and other inexcusable management misbehavior.

Chairman Powell, a multimillionaire lawyer, must take action. Will he? I doubt it.

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Regardless of whoever is the director of OMWI, the one person that is accountable for the diversity and inclusion policies of the Fed is the Board Chairman, who is, at the time of this post, Jerome Powell. Chairman Powell appears to be extremely lax in this area. He has a Presidential commission; Sheila Clark does not. As a result, Chairman Powell must take the lead and provide directives to make the Fed improve. If a multimillionaire like Chairman Powell cannot get the job done, the situation is hopeless.

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After the Killing of George Floyd: The Federal Reserve Still Refuses to Reckon with Its Racist Past and Present

After the writing of this post, the world witnessed the cruel killing of George Floyd, while handcuffed, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Floyd died under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and with the indifference of three other former police officers: Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao. The United States collapsed as all its brutal inhumanity to nonwhite people came to the light.

Of course, these inhumane behaviors and policies existed, visible to the people subject to the cruel policies daily.

For the Federal Reserve, I have written in this very post and in several previous posts about the unjust policies of the Federal Reserve toward black employees. While the Artis v. Greenspan case is over, the Federal Reserve still has not reckoned with any of its own racist practices and policies.

Yet, after the events following the death of George Floyd, Chairman Powell had the gall to recognize the reckoning for racial injustice in the United States. The Chairman did not have the courage to include the Federal Reserve in his remarks. Not a word about the Artis case. This is not surprising but still extremely disappointing.

It is not lost on me that we are meeting on Juneteenth amid a renewed reckoning of racial injustice. The pandemic has again exposed a range of troubling inequalities, most of them of long standing. As the national discussion continues, it is critical to remember that equity includes access to education, work, and economic opportunity. I am reminded that Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, just a few short blocks from the Federal Reserve, at a rally whose full title was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Chairman Jerome Powell, “Building a Resilient Workforce,” at a video conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Youngstown, Ohio (via webcast)

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The Diversity and Inclusion Activities of the Fed: Shamefully Little

The 2020 OMWI report had some changes from the 2019 OMWI report. There was a strong statement that implied that the Board has taken decisive action in diversity and inclusion (page 4 of the report). However, in reading the description of what was done, I was not impressed.

• The Board published a Strategic Plan.
• The ODI program director (Sheila Clark) provides the Fed Chairman and the governors with quarterly updates.
  • Clark noted that she has direct access to the Chairman Powell in case she has any issue to raise. (When this statement is compared with the issues raised in the introduction of this blog post, it shows that the Board is simply not serious about diversity and inclusion—a real travesty.) Sheila Clark has been involved in the abuses; the reader cannot believe that she cares now about diversity and inclusion issues with her past.

Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in the Auerbach book, page 123).

These paltry activities are simply insufficient and unacceptable. The Board Chairman has effectively done nothing. If the Chairman can deal with a dispute over a dog park in Chevy Chase, Maryland, he has the ability to handle many issues at once. I cannot accept any excuse that claims he is too busy.

Federal Reserve Board, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, Reports to Congress

(Preface language for report submitted in 2015.) “Pursuant to section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must submit an annual report to the Congress outlining the activities, successes, and challenges of the office. This is the office’s report for calendar year 2014. Sheila Clark serves as the director of ODI.”

Year	Link
2012	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2012-omwi-preface.htm
2013	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2013-omwi-preface.htm
2014	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2014-omwi-preface.htm
2015	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2015-omwi-preface.htm
2016	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/files/omwi-report-20160331.pdf
2017	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20170331.pdf
2018	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20180330.pdf
2019	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20190329.pdf
2020	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/March-2020-Report-to-the-Congress-on-the-Office-of-Minority-and-Women-Inclusion.htm

Conclusion

With this report, serious concern remains that the Board is not committed to addressing the failures of its past and present. The activities for diversity and inclusion detailed in the report are weak without strong leadership at the top. The experience of the long-running Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen case casts a profound shadow over the Board for diversity and inclusion issues. It is up to the Board to redeem itself; however, it is failing.

Federal Reserve Board: Board Issued 2018 Office of Minority and Women Inclusion Report; Slightly More Clarifying Information Included; Despite that Caution Still Advised

In March 2018, the Federal Reserve Board (Board) posted the 2018 version of its Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI).

As discussed previously in this blog, there had been some attention in inclusion issues by the Congress and the Board’s Office of Inspector General (IG). The blog had covered these developments, and also a former long-running case, Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen.

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Federal Reserve Board, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, Reports to Congress

(Preface language for the report submitted in 2015.) “Pursuant to section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must submit an annual report to the Congress outlining the activities, successes, and challenges of the office. This is the office’s report for calendar year 2014. Sheila Clark serves as the director of ODI.”

Year	Link
2012	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2012-omwi-preface.htm
2013	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2013-omwi-preface.htm
2014	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2014-omwi-preface.htm
2015	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2015-omwi-preface.htm
2016	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/files/omwi-report-20160331.pdf
2017	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20170331.pdf
2018	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20180330.pdf

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In reading the 2018 OMWI report, the report has essentially the same content and structure as in 2017; however, there were some additions. While the additions were explained better in the 2018 report, observers must remain cautious, given the Board’s difficulties with diversity and inclusion issues. Some topics that I noticed in the 2018 report:

• An updated section on equal employment contained more discussion. (But given the Board’s history on this subject, still more is needed.)
• The workforce profile is more or less similar to the previous year. (Table 2, page 4)
• The Board’s OMWI stated that it monitors if there is a problem with retention of women and minorities. (I do not trust the OMWI’s mere words, again given that the director was involved in the problems. Significant action is needed to defeat this skepticism.)
• There was a significant drop off in hiring overall. (Table 3, page 5)

 

Board Hiring and Promotions, 2015-2017
	2015	2016	2017
Positions filled	576	576	399
Interns	118	127	111
Positions filled w/ counting interns	458	449	288
Total number of Board employees	2673	2766	2745
Percentage of new non-intern hires over total number of employees	17.1%	16.2%	10.5%

 

Given the issues presented by the IG previously and with the long running time of the now-ended Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen case, the Board’s activities with regard to diversity and inclusion remain an issue of moderate to grave concern until demonstrable, sustained and consistent improvement is shown. Meetings, scorecards, and reports are a start, but insufficient compared to firm and visible results.

In all the tables in the “Equal Employment of Minorities and Women and Diversity and Inclusion at the Board” section, the delineation of non-minority and minority is obscure, specifically the minority category. Such obscurity can hide issues with specific subgroups under the umbrella of minority.

Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in the Auerbach book, page 123).

While the report provided an improved explanation of activities, concern remains that the activities produce demonstrable, consistent results–hiring and retention–of formerly excluded groups. The experience of the long-running Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen case casts a profound shadow over the Board for diversity and inclusion issues. It is up to the Board to redeem itself.

Federal Reserve Board: H.2 Release for Week Ending January 6, 2018; H.4.1 Release (Balance Sheet) for Week Ending January 11, 2018; Two Of Note Items

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Of Note–

(1) Inhuman, immoral patient dumping a policy result of the present health-care system. At a Maryland teaching hospital, University of Maryland Medical Center, in Baltimore City, the hospital placed a patient on the street with just a hospital gown (in cold weather).

Comment:  This is an inhuman, immoral result of health-care policy. The only cure to ensure that this abhorrent behavior never happens is single-payer health care so that people can concentrate on their health rather than the current system’s focus on “health insurance” company bloat and outlandish executive compensation packages as well as Big Pharma’s shameless profit extraction from people who are ill.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has published a report on this topic, “Patient Dumping.”

(2) The disgusting fig leaf of bias, “colorblindness,” has been removed by the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump.

[Author’s note: This blog does not use vulgar language in its content, but as the President of the United States of America has used vulgar language in the exercise of his duties, the blog relates the word the President stated.]

U.S. President Donald J. Trump made disparaging remarks, referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and countries in the African continent as “shithole” countries, during a White House meeting on immigration legislation.

[Trump stated in a later tweet that “The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.” It is unclear what this statement means; however, it is not a condemnation of the reporting as incorrect—which confirms that the reporting is correct. Considering also Trump’s long history of biased comments, the reported comments also fit with his past behavior.]

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Comment:  In the United States, racial bias is couched in an underhanded way–hiding the biased intent (and representing that intent as “colorblind” that results in discrimination anyway. Trump’s comments just erase the disgusting, yet accepted, fig leaf. The removal of the fig leaf bothers people who barely concealed their bias with claims of “colorblindness.”

Now, as a result, his Administration’s policies (and any law he signs) should be reviewed to ensure that they are all fair and equitable.

Separately, as mentioned in a previous post, the culture of the United States includes the bias that Trump expressed. Rev. Thomas Merton wrote about it in his book “Seeds of Destruction” in 1964.

Moreover, the blog has followed the racial discrimination case at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (otherwise known as the Federal Reserve Board)–Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen.

(For more information on other books on bias in the United States of America, see the recommended reading list on the blog’s sidebar.)

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The Federal Reserve Board (Board) publishes a weekly digest of its activities on its website. The digest is called the H.2 Release and is published every Thursday. The release for the week ending January 6, 2018, is below.

H.2 Release–Actions of the Board, Its Staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks; Applications and Reports Received

 

Category	Action Taken
Board Operations	Office of Inspector General — 2018 operating and capital budgets. -Approved, December 15, 2017 (A/C)   [Note: This is the reason why the Board’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) is not independent. The Board appoints the IG, and the Board approves, as noted, the OIG’s independently prepared budget.
Regulations and Policies	Rules of Practice for Hearings — final rule to adjust the Board’s maximum civil money penalties for 2018 to account for inflation. -Approved, December 26, 2017 (A/C)   Supervisory Guidance for Large Financial Institutions — publication for comment of proposed guidance describing core principles of effective senior management, the management of business lines, and independent risk management and controls for large financial institutions. -Approved, January 1, 2018
Enforcement	AmBank Holdings, Inc., Davenport, Iowa — written agreement dated February 2, 2012, terminated December 27, 2017. -Announced, January 4, 2018 J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited, Hong Kong, China — determination denying the request by Timothy Fletcher, a former institution-affiliated party, for immediate review of two interlocutory orders issued by the administrative law judge in connection with an enforcement matter. -Approved, December 26, 2017 (A/C)

Federal Reserve Board: Balance Sheet (H.4.1 Release)

The Board publishes data of factors affecting reserve balances. The digest is called the H.4.1 Release, and they are published every Thursday (or the next business day if the publication date falls on a federal holiday). The release for January 11, 2018, is below.

[Note: The blog will cover the line titled “Total Factors Supplying Reserve Funds.”]

H.4.1 Release–Factors Affecting Reserve Balances

Total factors supplying reserve funds (as of January 10, 2018):  $4,493,186 (in millions of dollars). (On September 26, 2007, this amount was $900,473 (in millions of dollars)).

(See the release for further information.)

Federal Reserve Board: H.2 Release for Week Ending November 25, 2017; H.4.1 Release (Balance Sheet) for Week Ending November 30, 2017; Two Of Note Items

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Of Note–

(1) The confirmation hearing for the Fed Chairman nominee, Jerome Powell was held on November 28, 2017. The balance sheet is planned to be reduced, not to its pre-crisis level of less than $1 trillion but rather to $2.5 to $3 trillion (from the current level (as of the date of this post) of approximately $4.5 trillion. The Board will continue to seek to reduce employment to 3 percent, as many people still are left out of the workforce.

Powell, noted, in responding to a Senator’s question for a need of diversity at the Fed, stated that a long-term process for inclusion (which he advocated) would take a “long time.” The Fed already had 104 years, inclusive of the nearly 20-year employment discrimination of Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen. How much longer must the people of the United States wait?

Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in the Auerbach book, page 123).

 Governor Powell’s statement to the Banking Committee.

 The webcast of Governor Powell’s nomination hearing.

 

(2) The departure of “full employment.” The grave consequences of outsourcing, the egregious insult of low wages and low supply of jobs. The blog has heard a story of the gall of an employer wanting people with law degrees to write summaries of U.S. court opinions for $3.00 each, regardless of the time needed to produce such a summary. (The bulk of the employer’s production work is done in India.)

This week, the blog has become aware of a job-applicant glut in the lawyer field. In a recent announcement for trademark examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, there were 500 applications for 50 positions.

“Free-market” result

Neoliberal economic policy in action

So-called full employment will never arrive because of a glut of people holding degrees (not only law), surpassing the number of jobs available, compounded by the relentless outsourcing of jobs from the United States.

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The Federal Reserve Board (Board) publishes a weekly digest of its activities on its website. The digest is called the H.2 Release and is published every Thursday. The release for the week ending November 18, 2017, is below.

H.2 Release–Actions of the Board, Its Staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks; Applications and Reports Received

Category	Action Taken
Bank Branches	Frost Bank, San Antonio, Texas — to establish a branch at 640 Taylor Street, Fort Worth. -Approved, November 20, 2017
Bank Holding Companies	Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc., Olney, Maryland — (1) to merge with WashingtonFirst Bankshares, Inc., Reston, Virginia, and thereby indirectly acquire WashingtonFirst Bank; (2) to acquire 1st Portfolio, Inc., Fairfax,  a nonbank subsidiary of WashingtonFirst Bankshares; and (3) for Sandy Spring Bank, Olney, Maryland, to merge with WashingtonFirst Bank, Reston, and thereby establish branches. -Approved, November 20, 2017
Forms	Forms — initial Board review to extend without revision the Recordkeeping and Disclosure Requirements Associated with Securities Transactions Pursuant to Regulation H (Reg H-3). -Proposed, November 20, 2017   Forms — final Board review to extend without revision the Application for Exemption from Prohibited Service at Savings and Loan Holding Companies (FR LL-12). -Approved, November 20, 2017
Personnel	Division of Monetary Affairs — appointment of Trevor A. Reeve as deputy director and Mary T. Hoffman as associate director. -Announced, November 21, 2017
Regulations and Policies	Regulation BB (Community Reinvestment) — final interagency amendments to Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to update the existing definitions of “home mortgage loan” and “consumer loan” and the public-file content requirements to conform the CRA regulations to recent changes to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act regulations. -Approved, November 8, 2017 (A/C)

Federal Reserve Board: Balance Sheet (H.4.1 Release)

The Board publishes data of factors affecting reserve balances. The digest is called the H.4.1 Release, and they are published every Thursday (or the next business day if the publication date falls on a federal holiday). The release for November 30, 2017, is below.

[Note: The blog will cover the line titled “Total Factors Supplying Reserve Funds.”]

H.4.1 Release–Factors Affecting Reserve Balances

Total factors supplying reserve funds (as of November 29, 2017):  $4,484,546 (in millions of dollars). (On September 26, 2007, this amount was $900,473 (in millions of dollars)).

(See the release for further information.)

 

Futility of “Colorblindness” & White Hegemony: Mere CEO Repudiations of the 45th President’s Comments–Insufficient, Useless

It is insufficient for corporate CEOs to denounce the words of President Donald Trump, while doing absolutely nothing to eradicate the stain of “colorblind” discrimination.

With the actions in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017, the nation recoiled at the open display of racial hatred. However, the events in Charlottesville served as the culmination of the grinding microaggressions–covert, exclusionary, discriminatory-and “colorblind” systemic discrimination–that occur daily.

Into this systemically discriminatory reality (for some members of the U.S. society) enter corporate chief executive officers (CEO), many of whom, perhaps, are active or passive participants in the systemic discrimination. It is not enough to proclaim the words of the civil rights laws and then pursue reckless programs that permit the exclusionary practices, which the neo-nazis, kkk-ers, and other white hegemons stated openly in Charlottesville as well as uttered in other places in the United States.

Dick Grote, Harvard Business School, Corporate America, & “Rank and Yank”.  Systemic discrimination is involved in the practice of forced-distribution “performance management”. This blog has covered Dick Grote’s “rank and yank” (aka forced distribution) program, which many corporations follow in order to dump employees should the financial numbers be insufficient to satisfy Wall Street. Other organizations have followed suit, some covered in this blog. Indeed, Harvard Business School, from which many corporate-executive MBAs come, publishes Grote’s materials.

Bucket (rank)	Percentage [“vitality curve”] (amounts can be adjusted)	Effect
A	20	Lavish rewards, encouragement
B	70	Little to paltry increase
C	10	Pressure to quit, firing

Artist: Michael Sloan

A quote from Grote (discussed previously at this blog):

But what if a company’s forced ranking procedure, honestly and objectively done, reveals that the blacks or women or disabled employees just aren’t as talented as the white ones? Should they do what some Harvard professors are said to do and award A’s to all the blacks, just to keep them from squawking?” (Grote, page 4 (a quote from a previous post)).

(Note: Consider this statement from Grote with the ever-present and persistent legacy of slavery and Jim Crow subjugation in the United States of America.)

White hegemony in the government. This questionable fidelity to white hegemony extends to the government. The Federal Reserve (its former Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen was covered in this blog), the Secret Service, and the U.S. Capitol Police Department have had or have long-term employment discrimination cases. The Federal Reserve acts grudgingly and haughtily towards any action that would threaten the mostly white workforce it has created. (Note: After 104 years of Federal Reserve inaction, Dr. Raphael Bostic became President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank.)

Black/African American Permanent Board Employees, Table C-2, in whole numbers (in numerical order of significance), 2011–2013
	2011	2012	2013
Total Black/African American employees	567	573	573
All other pay grade, FR-16 to FR-25	434	418	400
Mid-level professional pay grades, FR-26 to FR-28	106	125	136
Senior managers and officers pay grade, FR-29 to FR-00	27	30	37
Total employees of the Federal Reserve Board	2,187	2,279	2,353
Source: Board OIG Audit Report, 2015-MO-B-006, page 65.

The same is true for the U.S. Supreme Court, which lectures for a “colorblindness” (see John Marshall Harlan’s dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson) that practically means that most nonwhites are not welcome (for example, Antonin Scalia). The proof of this is the composition of a homogeneous law clerk workforce, who in turn apply their elite, majority life experiences into law. (For example, Graham v. Connor, Tennessee v. Garner, and all affirmative action cases.)

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Confirmation bias in the workplace and management. Discrimination extends into supervision, with writing being judged by high standards, exclusively (Reeves, Dr. Arin N. (2014, April). “Written in Black and White:  Exploring Confirmation Bias in Racialized Perceptions of Writing Skills.” Nextions Yellow Paper Series, 2014-0404.)  for the nonwhite subordinate. Such middling or low evaluations seriously hobble or end careers.

Conclusion. So, in closing, while the words of Trump were hard to hear, they are the result of covertly practiced and rampant systemic discrimination.

It is far past time for the United States to eradicate all discrimination from the society. Mere words from wealthy CEOs, who have lives of exclusion, are not enough. Only positive and definitive institutional action will satisfy the people of the United States.

Federal Reserve Board: H.2 Release for Week Ending August 5, 2017; H.4.1 Release (Balance Sheet) for Week Ending August 10, 2017; Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier Quits Presidential Council, “Colorblindness” Must End

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Of Note items—

(1) Cannot find a job? Move! Billionaire Donald Trump (the 45th president who often travels to his properties) and economist Tyler Cowen (professor of economics at George Mason University) advise you to move, forgetting at-will employment, lack of relocation-cost reimbursement, effect of child custody agreements, underwater mortgages, or other real-life (not academic economist’s) considerations (for example, unemployed people do not have money).

(2) Detestable overt and implicit “colorblind” racial violence. It is commendable that Kenneth Frazier, CEO, Merck & Co., stated that he quit from Trump’s President’s Manufacturing Council as a result of Trump’s lack of response to the tragedy in Charlottesville, Va. (Image is from Frazier’s tweet (link above).)

However, while the racial violence was overt in Charlottesville, the everyday implicit racial bias is equally corrosive to a fair society. The everyday silent, hidden “colorblind” violence continues. It would be far more helpful for Frazier to start a CEO-led committee to expose and eradicate all discrimination in the workplace.

The Supreme Court, through Antonin Scalia and John Marshall Harlan, demonstrated its institutional loyalty to the racial status quo–white-race societal dominance. The Federal Reserve, in its completed , almost 20-year employment discrimination case, Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen, also demonstrated its institutional fidelity to “colorblind” racial discrimination.

(See Auerbach, Robert (2008). “Deception and Abuse at the Fed,” chapter 8, and Merton, Rev. Thomas (1964). “Seeds of Destruction” (Letters to a White Liberal).)

Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in the Auerbach book, page 123).

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The Federal Reserve Board (Board) publishes a weekly digest of its activities on its website. The digest is called the H.2 Release and is published every Thursday. The release for the week ending August 5, 2017, is below.

H.2 Release–Actions of the Board, Its Staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks; Applications and Reports Received

Category	Action Taken
Forms	Forms — initial Board review to extend with revision the Application for Employment with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FR 28, FR 28s, and FR 28i). -Proposed, July 24, 2017Forms — initial Board review to extend without revision the Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Requirements Associated with Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in and Relationships with Covered Funds (Regulation VV) (FR VV). -Proposed, July 27, 2017
Enforcement	Barclays Bank PLC, New York Branch, New York, New York — issuance of a consent order of prohibition against Michael Weston, a former institution-affiliated party. -Announced, July 24, 2017M&T Bank Corporation, Buffalo, New York, and Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company — written agreement dated June 17, 2013, terminated July 25, 2017. -Announced, July 27, 2017

Federal Reserve Board: Balance Sheet (H.4.1 Release)

The Board publishes data of factors affecting reserve balances. The digest is called the H.4.1 Release, and they are published every Thursday (or the next business day if the publication date falls on a federal holiday). The release for August 10, 2017, is below.

[Note: The blog will cover the line titled “Total Factors Supplying Reserve Funds.”]

H.4.1 Release–Factors Affecting Reserve Balances

Total factors supplying reserve funds (as of August 9, 2017):  $4,515,817 (in millions of dollars). (On September 26, 2007, this amount was $900,473 (in millions of dollars)).

(See the release for further information.)

Federal Reserve Board: H.2 Release for Week Ending July 22, 2017; H.4.1 Release (Balance Sheet) for Week Ending July 27, 2017; Macroeconomics and “Colorblindness” = Wickedness

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Of Note items—

(1) From the Guardian Newspaper (United Kingdom)

One quote about “balanced budgets”–

“Despite these significant shifts, myths about the economy refuse to go away and hamper a more productive debate. They concern how the government manages public finances – “tax and spend”, if you will.

The first is that there is an inherent virtue in balancing the books. Conservatives still cling to the idea of eliminating the budget deficit, even if it is with a 10-year delay (2025, as opposed to George Osborne’s original goal of 2015). The budget-balancing myth is so powerful that Labour feels it has to cost its new spending pledges down to the last penny, lest it be accused of fiscal irresponsibility.

However, as Keynes and his followers told us, whether a balanced budget is a good or a bad thing depends on the circumstances. In an overheating economy, deficit spending would be a serious folly. However, in today’s UK economy, whose underlying stagnation has been masked only by the release of excess liquidity on an oceanic scale, some deficit spending may be good – necessary, even.”

(2) From the Board’s working paper series Finance and Economics Discussion Series (FEDS), Economists Tomaz Cajner, Tyler Radner, David Rattner, and Ivan Vidangos authored a staff working paper titled “Racial Gaps in Labor Market Outcomes in the Last Four Decades and over the Business Cycle.”

My observation:  In summary, the effect of persistent, systemic discrimination has terrible effects on black people in the labor market. This paper shows why economist-consensus talk of “full employment” level being reached is patently unfair and dangerous to black people in the United States. The United States was built on the backs of black people, forced to work for free and under inhuman conditions. The legacy lives on even with so-called civil rights acts. (See Reverend Thomas Merton (1964), “Seeds of Destruction,” pages 19-20, and this blog’s posts on “colorblindness.”)

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[Note:  The Board itself is not excluded from discriminatory behavior. See this blog’s posts on the former case of Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen. Eighteen years of the plaintiffs’ lives were lost because of Board obstinancy.

Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in Robert D. Auerbach’s book, “Deception and Abuse at the Fed,” page 123).

A quote from a previous blog update–“On June 20, 2016, the plaintiffs filed a petition for certiorari (No. 15-1543). On October 3, 2016, the Supreme Court announced that it denied cert for TERRELL, GEORGIANNA, ET AL. V. YELLEN, CHAIR, BD. OF GOVERNORS (page 15 of pdf).”]

(3) Related to item (2), there was a column on Bloomberg.com by Narayana Kocherlakota (2017), “Macroeconomists Can’t Keep Ignoring Race and Gender.” July 27.

Key quote–

“Economics is supposed to be concerned with figuring out what makes people better off, and how we can have more of it. For decades, macroeconomists have operated with the (largely unspoken) presumption that such questions are best addressed using models that ignore race and gender differences. The more we learn about these differences, the clearer it becomes that this is a mistake. The models need to change.”

“I don’t see race.”

paris_tuileries_garden_facepalm_statue

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The Federal Reserve Board (Board) publishes a weekly digest of its activities on its website. The digest is called the H.2 Release and is published every Thursday. The release for the week ending July 22, 2017, is below.

H.2 Release–Actions of the Board, Its Staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks; Applications and Reports Received

Category	Action Taken
Forms	Forms — final Board review to extend without revision the Recordkeeping and Disclosure Requirements Associated with Regulation R (FR 4025). -Approved, July 17, 2017 Forms — initial Board review to extend without revision the Application for Exemption from Prohibited Service at Savings and Loan Holding Companies (FR LL-12). -Proposed, July 17, 2017
Regulations and Policies	Covered-Fund Seeding Period — delegation of authority to the Federal Reserve Banks to approve requests for extensions of time to conform certain “seeding” investments in hedge funds or private equity funds under the Volcker Rule, provided certain criteria are met. -Approved, July 17, 2017 Minority Depository Institutions — annual report to Congress on preserving minority depository institutions, in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act. -Approved, June 30, 2017 (A/C) Prepaid Cards — annual report to Congress on government-administered, general-use prepaid cards, in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act. -Approved, July 3, 2017 (A/C) Volcker Rule — interagency coordination of reviews of the treatment of certain foreign funds under the Volcker Rule. -Announced, July 21, 2017

Federal Reserve Board: Balance Sheet (H.4.1 Release)

The Board publishes data of factors affecting reserve balances. The digest is called the H.4.1 Release, and they are published every Thursday (or the next business day if the publication date falls on a federal holiday). The release for July 27, 2017, is below.

[Note: The blog will cover the line titled “Total Factors Supplying Reserve Funds.”]

H.4.1 Release–Factors Affecting Reserve Balances

Total factors supplying reserve funds (as of July 26, 2017):  $4,512,020 (in millions of dollars). (On September 26, 2007, this amount was $900,473 (in millions of dollars)).

(See the release for further information.)

 

Federal Reserve Board: Board Issued 2017 Office of Minority and Women Inclusion Report. Slightly More Clarifying Information Included; Potential Improvement Obscured by Lack of Explanation

In March 2017, the Federal Reserve Board (Board) posted the 2017 version of its Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). As discussed previously in this blog, there had been some attention in inclusion issues by the Congress and the Board’s Office of Inspector General (IG). The blog had covered these developments, and also a former long-running case (not mentioned by the OMWI report), Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen.

Overall, with this report, the reader is made to feel skeptical of all Board activities, even if true progress is being made. More explanation of the programs being performed with the money of United States citizens, and the elimination of obscurity,  is expected and required.

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Federal Reserve Board, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion,
Reports to Congress

(Preface language for report submitted in 2015.) “Pursuant to section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must submit an annual report to the Congress outlining the activities, successes, and challenges of the office. This is the office’s report for calendar year 2014. Sheila Clark serves as the director of ODI.”

Year	Link
2012	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2012-omwi-preface.htm
2013	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2013-omwi-preface.htm
2014	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2014-omwi-preface.htm
2015	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/2015-omwi-preface.htm
2016	http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/files/omwi-report-20160331.pdf
2017	https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/omwi-report-20170331.pdf

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Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in the Auerbach book, page 123).

In reading the 2017 OMWI report, the report has essentially the same content and structure as in 2016; however, there were some additions. The additions are concerning as they allow worrying questions about the Board’s seriousness to this important issue, given its history in this area.

• The creation of a Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan. (The document seems like a condensed OMWI Report. The issue is the obscurity of Board actions, which is worrisome and makes an observer doubt the organization’s sincerity in improving its failings.)
• Divisions provide the Board’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion with periodic reports through a Diversity and Inclusion Scorecard. (Again, a description of this scorecard is not in the report, leading to concern about sincerity.)
• The positions filled in 2015 and 2016 evidence a somewhat similar rate of new hires, 17.1 percent and 16.2 percent, respectively. (See chart below.) The numbers suggest somewhat consistent turnover, leading to the possibility of the existence of a “rank-and-yank” system.
• The addition of courses to its core professional development curriculum–
  • “Unconscious Bias”
  • “Generational Differences”
  • “Inclusive Leadership.”

(It is unclear whether these courses are merely offered or are required for employees to attend. And, what will be ODI’s oversight responsibility to make sure things stay on track or that the courses prove effective? Again, there is nothing mentioned in the report.)

• In 2016, the Board created targeted strategies to address low participation of African Americans and Hispanics in research positions. (Unclear what these strategies are.)
• In April 2016, there was a creation of a Diversity and Economic Inclusion Initiative and a creation of a workgroup, of which the OMWI Director is a member. (The report did not provide any description of these programs.)

Board Hiring and Promotions, 2015 and 2016
	2015	2016
Positions filled	576	576
Interns	118	127
Positions filled w/ counting interns	458	449
Total number of Board employees	2673	2766
Percentage (new non-intern hires over total number of employees)	17.1%	16.2%

Given the issues presented by the IG previously and with the long running time of the now-ended Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen case, the Board’s activities with regard to diversity and inclusion continues to remain an issue of moderate to grave concern until demonstrable, sustained and consistent improvement is shown. Meetings, scorecards, and reports are a start, but insufficient compared to firm results.

In addition, the Board’s use of rank and yank undermines and destroys all efforts described in this post. The fourth full paragraph, left column on page 7 was used in previous years. [Note: The blog had identified that rank and yank is potentially being used at the Board.]

Artist: Michael Sloan

In all the tables in the “Equal Employment of Minorities and Women,” the delineation of non-minority and minority is obscure, specifically the minority category. Such obscurity can hide issues with specific subgroups under the umbrella of minority.

 

Federal Reserve Board: H.2 Release for Week Ending January 21, 2017; H.4.1 Release (Balance Sheet) for Week Ending January 26, 2017; FOMC Laughter at the Unemployed

The Federal Reserve Board (Board) publishes a weekly digest of its activities on its website. The digest is called the H.2 Release and is published every Thursday. The release for the week ending January 21, 2017, is below.

H.2 Release–Actions of the Board, Its Staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks; Applications and Reports Received

Category	Action Taken
Enforcement	ServiceLink Holdings, LLC, Jacksonville, Florida (as a successor to Lender Processing Services, Inc.) — interagency amendment to consent order issued in 2011, and assessment of a civil money penalty. -Approved, January 16, 2017

Federal Open Market Committee Transcripts; Laughter at the Unemployed

The blog has covered a surprising development (that it burst into the public, not that it occurs) with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)–that members of the FOMC laughed at the plight of vulnerable citizens during meetings in 2011. The reason that this development has come out now is because of a practice to delay release of FOMC transcripts until five years after the meeting.

The unprofessional, galling behavior of some of the FOMC members–now-Chair Janet Yellen was there in her previous role as president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank–demonstrates that the five year lag is being abused as a cover for inappropriate behavior and not to allow free-flowing discussion of monetary policy issues. As a result, immediate reforms are needed, including a reduction of the five-year period to a lower delay period (for example, perhaps, one year).

Sheila Clark’s letter to the EEOC (printed in the Auerbach book, page 123).

paris_tuileries_garden_facepalm_statue

The behavior casts doubt that the FOMC should be allowed to participate in matters related to unemployed people, if the plight of these vulnerable human beings are disregarded in such an inhuman fashion.

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Charles Plosser, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, stated at a 2011 FOMC meeting (in the Intercept article), that a person who owned 60 McDonald’s restaurants (franchise, presumably) stated that “passing drug tests, passing literacy test, and work ethic” were among the issues that the franchise owner faced.

In 2016, however, 5,000+ people turned out for a 100-job job fair! Work ethic is an issue? This is the problem when public servants, like Plosser, pay lip service to their jobs; he must do the research with the affected people–the unemployed–directly.

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Resignations are needed;  immediate reforms to the Board and the FOMC are necessary. Both bodies are for the benefit of human beings and for public service. Those who cannot measure up to these heavy responsibilities should leave either or both bodies with haste.

Federal Reserve Board: Balance Sheet (H.4.1 Release)

The Board publishes data of factors affecting reserve balances. The digest is called the H.4.1 Release, and they are published every Thursday (or the next business day if the publication date falls on a federal holiday). The release for January 26, 2017, is below.

[Note: The blog will cover the line titled “Total Factors Supplying Reserve Funds.”]

H.4.1 Release–Factors Affecting Reserve Balances

Total factors supplying reserve funds (as of January 25, 2017):  $4,498,898 (in millions of dollars). (On September 26, 2007, this amount was $900,473 (in millions of dollars)).

(See the release for further information.)

 

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