FOMC Minutes

Meeting of Federal Open Market Committee October 17, 1972 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, October 17, 1972, at 11:15 a.m. PRESENT: Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Burns, Chairman Hayes, Vice Chairman Brimmer Bucher Coldwell Daane Eastburn MacLaury Mitchell Robertson Sheehan Winn Messrs. Francis, Heflin, and Mayo, Alternate Members of the Federal Open Market Committee Messrs. Morris, Kimbrel, Clay, and Balles, Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, Atlanta, Kansas City, and San Francisco, respectively Mr. Holland, Secretary Mr. Broida, Deputy Secretary Messrs. Altmann and Bernard, Assistant Secretaries Mr. Hackley, General Counsel Mr. O'Connell, Assistant General Counsel Mr. Partee, Senior Economist Mr. Axilrod, Economist (Domestic Finance) Messrs. Boehne, Bryant, Gramley, Green, Hersey, Hocter, and Link, Associate Economists 10/17/72 Mr. Holmes, Manager, System Open Market Account Mr. Coombs, Special Manager, System Open Market Account Mr. Melnicoff, Deputy Executive Director, Board of Governors Mr. O'Brien, Special Assistant to the Board of Governors Mr. Reynolds, Associate Director, Division of International Finance, Board of Governors Messrs. Keir, Pierce, Wernick, and Williams, Advisers, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors Mr. Wendel, Chief, Government Finance Section, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors Mrs. Sherman, Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Board of Governors Mr. Leonard, First Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Messrs. Eisenmenger, Parthemos, Scheld, Andersen, Tow, and Craven, Senior Vice Presidents, Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, Richmond, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and San Francisco, respectively Messrs. Brandt and Doll, Vice Presidents, Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Kansas City, respectively Mr. Sandberg, Manager, Acceptance and Securities Departments, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Mr. Duprey, Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis By unanimous vote, the minutes of actions taken at the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on August 15, 1972, were approved. The memorandum of discussion for the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on August 15, 1972, was accepted. 10/17/72 The reports of audit of the System Open Market Account and of foreign currency transactions, made by the Board's Division of Federal Reserve Bank Operations as at the close of business August 18, 1972, and submitted by Mr. McWhirter, Chief Federal Reserve Examiner, were accepted. By unanimous vote, the System open market transactions in foreign currencies during the period September 19 through October 16, 1972, were approved, ratified, and confirmed. By unanimous vote, renewal for further periods of 3 months of the 8 System drawings on the National Bank of Belgium maturing in the period November 3-24, 1972, was authorized. By unanimous vote, renewal for further periods of 3 months of the 2 System drawings on the Swiss National Bank maturing on November 10 and 17, 1972, respectively, was authorized. By unanimous vote, renewal for further periods of 3 months of the 2 System drawings on the Bank for International Settlements, in Swiss francs and Belgian francs and maturing on November 13 and 17, 1972, respectively, was authorized. By unanimous vote, the open market transactions in Govern ment securities, agency obligations, and bankers' acceptances during the period September 19 through October 16, 1972, were approved, ratified, and confirmed. 10/17/72 By unanimous vote, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was authorized and directed, until otherwise directed by the Committee, to execute transactions for the System Account in accordance with the following current economic policy directive: The information reviewed at this meeting suggests a substantial increase in real output of goods and services in the third quarter, although well below the unusually large rise recorded in the second quarter. In September wages and prices advanced moderately, while the unemployment rate remained substantial. In the U.S. balance of payments, the current account deficit has been largely offset by capital inflows in recent weeks, and the central bank reserves of most industrial countries have continued to change little. In August, the excess of U.S. merchandise imports over exports declined somewhat. The narrowly and broadly defined money stock expanded at moderate rates in August and September, following large increases in July, but the bank credit proxy continued to grow rapidly. Since mid-September, short-term interest rates have increased somewhat, while yields on most long term securities have changed little. In light of the foregoing developments, it is the policy of the Federal Open Market Committee to foster financial conditions conducive to sustainable real economic growth and increased employment, abatement of inflationary pressures, and attainment of reasonable equilibrium in the country's balance of payments. To implement this policy, while taking account of the effects of possible bank regulatory changes, Treasury financing operations, and developments in credit markets, the Committee seeks to achieve bank reserve and money market conditions that will support more moderate growth in monetary aggregates over the months ahead than recorded in the third quarter. -5 10/17/72 It was agreed that the next meeting of the Federal Open 20 Market Committee would be held on Monday and Tuesday, November 21, 1972. Thereupon the meeting adjourned. Secretary

Federal Reserve (1972, October 16). FOMC Minutes. Fomc Minutes, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/fomc_minutes_19721017

@misc{wtfs_fomc_minutes_19721017,
  author = {Federal Reserve},
  title = {FOMC Minutes},
  year = {1972},
  month = {Oct},
  howpublished = {Fomc Minutes, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/fomc_minutes_19721017},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}