Presidents, the Federal Reserve and the Limits of Independence [Research Assistantship]

Professor: Sarah Binder
 
Department: Political Science
 
Title: Presidents, the Federal Reserve and the Limits of Independence
 
Description: Most observers and students of the American political economy believe that presidents routinely observe a norm of “hands off the Federal Reserve” — refraining from commenting on the Fed’s setting of interest rates or other policy choices. In fact, that tradition is relatively short-lived: It took root during the Clinton presidency and ground to a halt under President Trump. In this research project, I build on my recent co-authored book (with Mark Spindel), “The Myth of Independence: How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve” (Princeton 2017), to probe the roots and evolution of presidents’ interactions with the central bank. Under what economic and political conditions have presidents signaled their views publicly to the Fed and with what consequence for the Fed’s handling of monetary policy?
 
Duties: RA responsibilities will primarily include coding of New York Times articles that mention the Federal Reserve and the president during the period 1935-2018. The articles will be coded to capture all instances of presidents signaling their views to the Fed and vice versa. The RA will work as part of a team of coders, including my full-time RA and part-time fall intern at the Brookings Institution. Depending on how much coding progress we make over the semester, I might have the Honors program RA research write up a few case studies of notable interactions between presidents and Fed chairs. I’ve indicated this as a 1-3 hour/ week time commitment and option for course credit, but I am amenable to longer hours for more credit (or not) or no course credit.  Preference for students with background courses in political science and/or economics.
 
Time commitment: 1-3 hours per week (average)
 
Credit hour option*: 1
 
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: binder@gwu.edu
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met. Students selected to be research assistants should contact Ben Faulkner at benfaulkner@gwu.edu whether they intend to pursue credit or not.