Speech

Eulogy for Darryl R. Francis, 1912-2002 FortSmith,Arkansas February12,2002 PublishedintheFederalReserveBankofSt.LouisReview,March/April2002,84(2),pp.1-2 We are here today to celebrate a inflationandthemoneygrowththatwascausing life well led. I am honored that it.IknowthatpersonallybecauseI’vereadthe Darryl’s widow, Sherrian, asked minutesoftheFOMCforthatperiod. me to speak this morning. ButDarryldidmuchmorethanspeakagainst IcametoknowDarrylFrancispersonally inflationandexcessivemoneygrowthatFOMC justabitinthefinalyearsofhislife,afterImoved meetings.Withhisresearchdirector,Homer toSt.Louisfouryearsago.Butlongbeforethen, Jones,hebuiltaresearchdivisionoffirstrank Iknewhimverywellbyreputation,throughmany andencouragedresearchontheinflationissue. economistswhoworkedattheSt.LouisFed Francis,Jones,andtheresearcheconomistswere duringhistenure.Asaconsequenceofmyclose convincedthattheanalysisoftheChicagoSchool trackingofmonetarypolicydebatesstartingin ofmonetaryeconomics,ledbyMiltonFriedman, the1960s,Icametoappreciatehowextremely heldthekeytotheinflationproblem.Money importantDarrylwasinthisnation’smonetary growthhadtoberestrained,andconsistently history. restrainedoverthelongrun. DarrylwaspresidentoftheFederalReserve TheChicagoviewismainstreameconomics BankofSt.Louisfrom1966to1976.Tounder- today,butitwasn’tatthattime.Darrylbrought standtheimportanceofhisrole,Ineedtorecount thisanalysisintotheFederalReserveSystem. justabitoftheeconomichistoryofthatperiod. Moreimportantly,hebroughttheanalysistothe Inflationbegantorisein1965,andyearbyyear generalpublicthroughhisspeechesandargued becameanincreasinglydifficultproblemforthe thecasetoprofessionalaudiencesthroughschol- UnitedStatesuntil1982.AspresidentoftheBank, arlypaperspublishedbytheBank’sresearch DarrylsatontheFederalReserve’sprincipal economists. monetarypolicybody,theFederalOpenMarket Inspeakingout,DarrylFrancistookapublic Committee.Overtheyearsofhismembershipon stancethatrequiredgreatcourage.Inplainterms, theFOMC,hispositionwasconsistentandstated hesaidthattheorganizationheworkedforwas oftenwithquieteloquence.Theissuewassimple: responsibleforcreatingandmaintaininginfla- toendtheinflation,theFederalReserveneeded tion.ThatwasnotapopularpositionattheFed’s toslowtherateofmoneycreation.Controlling BoardofGovernorsinWashington,andIknow moneygrowthwasandistheFed’sresponsibility; thatalotofpressurewasappliedtotrytoget noprivateparty,nootherorganizationcandoit. Darryltobequiet.AgreatstrengthoftheFederal TheFOMCdidslowmoneygrowthin1966, ReserveSystemisthatthe12regionalFederal butnotforlong.Moneygrowthandinflationrose ReserveBankshavesubstantialindependence. in1967.Subsequentpolicytighteningsin1969 DarrylFrancisusedthatindependenceforthis and1973-74wereineachcasefollowedbyperiods greatcauseofendingthescourgeofinflation.He ofexcessivemoneygrowth.Inflationroseand helpedshapethepublicdebate.Thepolicieshe becameevermoreintractable.InFOMCmeetings, advocatedwerenotadoptedduringhistermof DarrylFrancisspokeagainandagainagainst office,butlatertheywerethebasisofthepolicies 1 MONETARYPOLICYANDINFLATION pursuedbyPaulVolcker,whenhebecameFed tomakequiteafewtripsinhisstationwagonto Chairmanin1979.Thesepolicieswereunder- transporthiswinecollection.Giventhatthese stoodbyRonaldReagan,withoutwhosesupport tripshadtobesqueezedbetweenotherwork,at Volckercouldnothavestoodthecoursethrough theendoftheprocesshewasallbutexhausted the1981-82recession,atthetimeandstillthe fromthemanydrivestoFortSmithandbackto mostseriousU.S.recessionsincetheGreat St.Louis.Heendedupwithsomekneeproblems, Depression. whichtookquitesomemonthstoclearup.In Darryl’scourageinaddressingtheinflation tellingmethestory,Darryl’sfriendchuckledand problemdidmorethancontributetosolvingit. saidthatthekneeproblemsweresurelyjustret- HisexampleinspiredtheworkoftheSt.Louis ributionformovingallthatwinetoArkansas, FedeconomistsandledtheentireFederalReserve whichwasalotdryerstateinthemid1970s Systemtobecomeamuchmoreopenorganiza- thanitistoday. tion.St.Louiscametoberegardedassomething GeneLeonardisapersonwhoknewDarryl ofamaverickamongReserveBanks,andthe formanyyears,andheregretshecouldnotbe FederalReserveBankofSt.Louiscametobe heretoday.GeneservedunderDarrylinseveral known,andstillisknown,Ibelieve,asthepre- positionsincludingastheFirstVicePresidentof mierFedbankineconomicsresearch. theFederalReserveBankofSt.Louis.Genesent ImetDarrylonceortwicewhilehewasSt. meafewwordsthatI’llread. LouisFedpresident.Onevividmemoryofmine DarrylFranciswasmybossfor15years.He waswhileIwasajuniorstaffmemberatthe wasalsomymentor,afatherfigure,anda BoardofGovernorsintheearly1970s.Anocca- closefriend.Ironicallywemetatafuneral,as sionaljuniorstaffmemberwaspermittedtoattend pallbearersforaprofessorattheUniversityof anFOMCmeeting,andIgottogoonce.Idon’t Missouriwehadhadincommonageneration remembernowwhichmeetingitwas,butIdo apart,andtowhomwehadeachbecomequite rememberwatchingandlisteningtoDarrylat close.Ajobofferfollowed,andarelationship thatmeeting.HiswasalonelyvoiceatthatFOMC began. meeting.AsIconfirmedlaterwhenreadingthe Darrylwasthebestbossapersoncould everhopefor.Wewantedtoworkhardas FOMCminutesoftheperiod,herarelyhadother muchtopleaseDarrylandmakehimproud FOMCmemberswhosharedhisviews.Buthe asforourownpaycheck.Hedidn’thavethe wasright,andtheworldeventuallysawthathe “egoproblem”thatcharacterizesmanyCEOs. wasright. Heledbyinspiration,notbyintimidation. InrecentyearsIgottoknowDarryljustabit. Attheendoftheworkingday,Darrylleft IwasespeciallypleasedthatheandSherrian theproblemsofthebankingworldandthe couldattendtheBank’sannualresearchconfer- economyatthedoorofhisoffice,making enceinOctober2000.Wededicatedthatcon- timetoindulgewithapassionwhatever ferencetohiminrecognitionofhisgreat hobbyorinteresthewaspursuingatthetime. contributiontotheBankandtothenation. Welearnednottobeoverlyconsumedbyour AsI’vesaidbefore,andwillsayagain,Darryl jobs—one’ssuccesswasnotenhancedbybeing isaheroofmine. thefirsttoarriveandthelasttoleave.“Don’t youhaveafamily?”hewouldask.Theprivi- I’ll repeatastoryoneofhisfriendstoldme. legeofworkingforhimwasanimportantpart Duringhisactiveyears,Darrylhadmanyhobbies, ofourcompensation. eachofwhichhepursuedwithconsiderable Darrylhadawonderfulsenseofhumor— energyandintensity.Atthetimeheretiredfrom sometimeswewouldlaughtogethertilltears theSt.LouisFedandmovedtoFortSmith,one cametooureyes.Hisverbalexpressions ofthosehobbieswascollectingwine.Hehad reflectedhisNorthMissouriruralupbringing, accumulatedasubstantialwinecellar,whichthe andhiswisdom.Oncewhenacolleaguemade movingcompanyrefusedtomove.So,Darrylhad anembarrassingmistake,Darrylsaid:“He 2 EulogyforDarrylR.Francis,1912-2002 kindatorehispantsalittlegoin’overthe fence.”IneverforgotthatbecauseIhaddone itmyself—literallyandfiguratively.Darryl ledalongandproductivelife—agoodlife. Letusbegratefulforthat.Imisshimalready. Gene,Imisshimtoo.Darrylwillremaina herotomeandwe’llallmisshim.NowDarryl willgotohisfinalrestingplace.Hewaspreceded indeathbyhisbelovedfirstwifeof58years, LorettaFranceSmyth,andwillbeburiedalong- sideherhereinFortSmith. 3

William Poole (2002, February 11). Speech. Speeches, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/speech_20020212_poole

@misc{wtfs_speech_20020212_poole,
  author = {William Poole},
  title = {Speech},
  year = {2002},
  month = {Feb},
  howpublished = {Speeches, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/speech_20020212_poole},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}