FOMC Minutes

Meeting of Federal Open Market Committee December 17, 1968 MINUTES OF ACTIONS A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D. C., on Tuesday, December 17, 1968, at 9:30 a.m. PRESENT: Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Hayes, Vice Chairman, Presiding Brimmer Daane Galusha Hickman Kimbrel Maisel Mitchell Morris Robertson Sherrill Messrs. Bopp, Clay, Coldwell, and Scanlon, Alternate Members of the Federal Open Market Committee Messrs. Heflin, Francis, and Swan, Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond, St. Louis, and San Francisco, respectively Mr. Holland, Secretary Mr. Sherman, Assistant Secretary Mr. Kenyon, Assistant Secretary Mr. Broida, Assistant Secretary Mr. Molony, Assistant Secretary Mr. Hackley, General Counsel Mr. Brill, Economist Messrs. Axilrod, Hersey, Kareken, Mann, Partee, Reynolds, Solomon, and Taylor, Associate Economists Mr. Holmes, Manager, System Open Market Account 12/17/68 Mr. Cardon, Assistant to the Board of Governors Mr. Coyne, Special Assistant to the Board of Governors Mr. Williams, Adviser, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors Mr. Wernick, Associate Adviser, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors Mr. Keir, Assistant Adviser, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors Mr. Bernard, Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary, Board of Governors Miss Eaton, Open Market Secretariat As sistant, Office of the Secretary, Board of Governors Mr. Lewis, First Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Messrs. Eisenmenger, MacLaury, Eastburn, Jones, Tow, Green, and Craven, Vice Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco, respectively Mr. Garvy, Economic Adviser, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Messrs. Wallace and Scheld, Assistant Vice Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Chicago, respectively Mr. Cooper, Manager, Securities and Acceptance Departments, Federal Reserve Bank of New York By unanimous vote, the minutes of actions taken at the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee held on November 26, 1968, were approved. The memorandum of discussion for the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee held on November 26, 1968, was accepted. 12/17/68 By unanimous vote, the System open market transactions in foreign currencies during the period November 26 through December 16, 1968, were approved, ratified, and confirmed. By unanimous vote, the open market transactions in Govern ment securities, agency obligations, and bankers' acceptances during the period November 26 through December 16, 1968, were ap proved, ratified, and confirmed. By unanimous vote, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was authorized and directed, until otherwise directed by the Committee, to execute transactions in the System Account in accordance with the following current economic policy directive: The information reviewed at this meeting suggests that over-all economic activity is expanding rapidly and that upward pressures on prices and costs are persisting. Market interest rates have risen consid erably further in recent weeks. Bank credit growth has been sustained by continuing strong expansion of time and savings deposits, while growth in the money supply has accelerated and U.S. Government deposits have declined. The U.S. foreign trade surplus remains very small and the over-all balance of payments apparently worsened in October and November. In this situation, it is the policy of the Federal Open Market Committee to foster financial conditions conducive to the reduction of inflationary pressures, with a view to encouraging a more sustainable rate of economic growth and attaining reasonable equilibrium in the country's balance of payments. To implement this policy, System open market operations until the next meeting of the Committee shall be conducted with a view to attaining firmer conditions in money and short-term credit markets, taking account of the effects of other possible monetary policy action; 12/17/68 -4 provided, however, that operations shall be modified if bank credit expansion appears to be deviating significantly from current projections. It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on January 14, 1969, at 9:30 a.m. The meeting adjourned. Secretary

Federal Reserve (1968, December 16). FOMC Minutes. Fomc Minutes, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/fomc_minutes_19681217

@misc{wtfs_fomc_minutes_19681217,
  author = {Federal Reserve},
  title = {FOMC Minutes},
  year = {1968},
  month = {Dec},
  howpublished = {Fomc Minutes, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/fomc_minutes_19681217},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}