FOMC Minutes

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 on Monday, October 4,

PRESENT:

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

1948, at 11:00 a.m.

McCabe, Chairman

Sproul, Vice Chairman

Clayton

Draper

Eccles

Evans

Gilbert

Mr. Leedy

Mr. Szymczak

Mr. Williams

Mr. Young

Mr. Morrill, Secretary

Mr. Carpenter, Assistant Secretary

Mr. Vest, General Counsel

Mr. Thomas, Economist

Messrs. Bopp, Irons, Langum, Robb, and

John H. Williams, Associate Economists

Mr. Rouse, Manager of the System Open

Market Account

Mr. Thurston, Assistant to the Board of

Governors

Mr. Riefler, Assistant to the Chairman

of the Board of Governors

Mr. Sherman, Assistant Secretary, Board

of Governors

Mr. Ralph A. Young, Associate Director,

Division of Research and Statistics,

Board of Governors

Mr. Smith, Economist, Government Finance

Section, Division of Research and

Statistics, Board of Governors

Mr. Arthur Willis, Special Assistant, Se

curities Department, Federal Reserve

Bank of New York

Messrs. Gidney, Leach, McLarin, and Earhart, alter

nate members of the Federal Open Market Committee

10/4/48

Messrs. Davis and Peyton, Presidents of the Fed

eral Reserve Banks of St. Louis and Minneapolis,

respectively, and Mr. Willett, First Vice Presi

dent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Upon motion duly made and seconded,

and by unanimous vote, the minutes of the

meeting of the Federal Open Market Commit

tee held on May 20, 1948, were approved.

Upon motion duly made and seconded,

and by unanimous vote, the actions of the

executive committee of the Federal Open

Market Committee as set forth in the min

utes of the meetings of the executive com

mittee held on May 20, June 23, August 11,

and September 8, 1948, were approved, rati

fied, and confirmed.

Upon motion duly made and seconded,

and by unanimous vote, the actions of the

members of the Federal Open Market Commit

tee on August 11, 1948, and September 24,

1948, increasing from $1,500,000,000 to

$3,000,000,000, and from $3,000,000,000 to

$4,000,000,000, respectively, the limitation,

contained in the first paragraph of the direc

tion issued on May 20, 1948, on the authority

of the executive committee to direct trans

actions in the System account were approved,

ratified, and confirmed.

A report of

open market operations prepared by the Federal

Reserve Bank of New York covering the period from May 20, 1948, to

September 29, 1948, inclusive, was then read and discussed by Mr.

Rouse.

He also presented a supplementary report covering commit

ments on September 30 and October 1, 1948.

Copies of the report

first mentioned were distributed during the meeting and copies of

both reports have been placed in the files of the Federal Open

Market Committee.

10/4/48

-3

Upon otion duly made and seconded,

and by unanimous vote, the transactions

in the System account for the period May

20, 1948, to October 4, 1948, inclusive,

were approved, ratified, and confirmed.

In connection with the report of transactions in the System

open market account Mr. Sproul called attention to the substantial

increase that had taken place in the System holdings of Government

securities maturing in more than 10 years and suggested that a study

be made of the advisability of the Treasury refunding some of the

long-term securities held in the System account with special short

term issues bearing a lower interest rate.

Mr. Sproul's suggestion was discussed

and, upon motion duly made and seconded,

Chairman McCabe was authorized unanimously

to appoint a committee to study the matter

and report to the Federal Open Market

Committee.

Secretary's note:

Following the meeting Chairman

McCabe appointed Messrs. Thomas, Rouse, and

Riefler as the members of this committee.

Chairman McCabe then called upon Mr. Thomas for the reports

of the economists.

Mr.

Irons said that, despite a strong degree of inflation

consciousness and moderately restrictive credit measures, the demand

for bank credit had continued strong and the banks had been able and

apparently willing to meet at least a considerable part of that de

mand, that both inflationary and deflationary forces were at work

in the economy, and that if natural forces were allowed to exert

10/4/48

-4

their influences the economy might find itself past the peak of the

inflationary boom and faced with a readjustment.

He added, however,

that in view of the international situation and the possibility that

the country would enter upon a program of large defense and military

preparedness expenditures the outlook was for more inflation and

more additions to bank loans, and that he doubted whether drastic

credit restriction would be either adequate to do the job of re

straining inflation or compatible with the sort of defense program

contemplated.

Mr.

Thomas said that in his view further inflationary busi

ness expansion was to be expected at least through the first

of 1949,

half

that there was some possibility of a sharp further in

flationary development if the international situation worsened,

and that in the longer run the question was whether the economy

could make piecemeal adjustments from this situation or whether

the unstabilizing factors were such that a collapse was inevitable.

He also stated that he felt it

more than likely that additional

measures of credit restraint would be needed in order to keep the

inflation from getting out of hand, that if

present demands for

credit were not met the inflation might be broken at this stage,

and that the Federal Reserve System should use such restraints as

it had to avoid a worse collapse later on.

10/4/48

-5

Mr. John H. Williams expressed the opinion that inflation

was in the process of wearing itself out, that the prospect was

for moving sidewise or even downward, that a serious downturn

was unlikely, and that the present Federal Reserve policy di

rected toward the raising of short-term interest rates should be

continued as vigorously as possible but that this was not an ap

propriate time to unpeg the long-term rate.

Copies of the statements of Messrs. Irons and Williams

and of the paper on The Business Outlook from which Mr. Thomas

talked have been placed in the files of the Federal Open Market

Committee.

At Chairman McCabe's request Mr. Sproul reviewed develop

ments since the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on

May 20, 1948, following which the meeting recessed and reconvened

at 2:10 p.m. with the same attendance as at the morning session.

Mr. Sproul referred to a memorandum prepared under date of

October 1, 1948, pursuant to the request of the executive committee

at its meeting on August 11, 1948, on "Federal Reserve Policy with

Respect to Treasury Bill Rates".

Copies of the memorandum were

distributed to all members of the Committee before this meeting

and a copy has been placed in the files of the Federal Open Market

Committee.

Mr. Sproul reviewed briefly the contents of the memo

randum and the discussion at the meeting of the executive committee

10/4/48

-6

this morning, stating that there was general agreement by the ex

ecutive committee that (a) the System's weekly bids for Treasury

bills should be designed to effect some redemption of System hold

ings of bills each week so as to absorb reserves and thereby put

more pressure on bank reserves, (b) that the New York Bank should

experiment in its operations in bills so as to make the penalty

for selling bills as heavy as it could within the general program

for support of the bill and certificate rates, and (c) that the

bill rate should be allowed to rise as close to the present 1-1/4

per cent certificate rate as possible without affecting that rate

and when the certificate rate moved up from 1-1/4 per cent the

bill rate should be allowed to move up as close to the certificate

rate as possible.

He also said that it

was the view of the executive commit

tee that the Federal Open Market Committee should move promptly to

increase the market rate on one-year Treasury certificates,

and

that to this end there should be a meeting with the Secretary of

the Treasury as soon as possible to discuss the action to be taken

in the market to bring about a rise in short-term rates in antici

pation of the January Treasury financing.

Committee approved this procedure and if

He added that, if

the

the Secretary of the

Treasury did not object to the proposed action, market operations

should bring about a rise in the short-term rate to perhaps 1-1/2

10/4/48

-7

per cent prior to the January financing and that, as the certificate

rate moved up, the support prices of other shorter-term issues would

be adjusted accordingly.

If the Treasury disagreed with the program,

Mr. Sproul said, the Committee would then have to consider whether

to proceed despite Treasury objections.

In response to an inquiry from Mr.

Clayton as to whether the

executive committee had given consideration to increasing the short

term rate to 1-3/8 per cent instead of 1-1/2 per cent, Mr. Sproul

said that the thought was to get banks interested in buying short

term securities rather than long, that the executive committee felt

that the increase could go to 1-1/2 per cent, but that no definite

rate was proposed and that, if the situation seemed to call for it,

the rate might not go beyond 1-3/8 per cent.

Mr.

Sproul made the further comment that the program out

lined above would be presented to the Treasury as a matter which

the Open Market Committee wished to discuss; not as something the

Treasury would be expected to approve or disapprove, but to which

it could object if

lay,

it

chose to do so.

as was the case this summer,

If,

he said, there were de

and the Treasury did not express

agreement or objection, the Committee should press the matter.

Mr. Evans stated that it

seemed to him that the course of

events had clearly demonstrated the need for additional authority

over bank reserves in the form of the special reserve plan previously

-8

10/4/48

proposed by the Board or the plan under which reserve requirements

would be based on the type of deposit rather than the location of

the bank, and that before Congress convened the Board of Governors

and the Presidents should undertake to reach an agreement so that

the over-all credit policies of the System would have full System

support.

There was a discussion of Mr. Evans'

suggestion but no

conclusions were reached.

Before this meeting there were distributed to those present

copies of a memorandum prepared in the Board's Division of Research

and Statistics on the outlook for bank reserves and Treasury fi

nancing.

Mr.

Thomas referred to the recommendations that might be

made to the Treasury with respect to the use of Treasury balances

as a means of affecting member bank reserves during the remainder

of the year.

This matter was discussed, together with the possi

bility of further debt retirement by the Treasury and action to

increase the discount rates at the Federal Reserve Banks.

Chairman McCabe called on the members of the Federal Open

Market Committee and the Presidents who were not members of the

Committee for their views on the program proposed by the executive

was the consensus

committee and discussed at this meeting,

and it

that the program should be carried out.

During their individual

comments the Presidents expressed a variety of views on the ques

tion raised by Mr. Evans with respect to increased authority over

bank reserve requirements.

At the conclusion of the individual

statements, upon motion duly made and sec

onded, and by unanimous vote, the program

as recommended by the executive committee

and discussed at this meeting was approved,

with the understanding that Messrs. McCabe

and Sproul would present the program to the

Secretary of the Treasury at the earliest

possible date.

Secretary's note: Following the meeting, Chairman McCabe

called the office of Secretary Snyder for an appointment

for the afternoon of Wednesday, October 6, but learned that

the Secretary was out of the city. An appointment was made

for Messrs. McCabe and Sproul to see the Secretary on Wednes

day, October 13, 1948, at which time the following letter,

which had been approved by the members of the executive

committee of the Federal Open Market Committee, was handed

to the Secretary as a statement of the views of the Federal

Open Market Committee:

"In my letter of September 13, 1948, I stated that some

time in the near future Mr. Sproul and I, in behalf of the

Federal Open Market Committee, would like to discuss with

you the two matters referred to in the letter and other mat

ters relating to the credit and monetary situation. This

letter has been prepared as a basis for a discussion of

policies to be followed during the remainder of the current

year.

"It is believed that the period will be characterized

by additional sales of bonds by nonbank holders which will

have to be purchased by the Federal Reserve Banks in ac

cordance with the present policy of supporting the 2-1/2

per cent long-term rate. It is possible that such pur

chases by the System will be in substantial amounts. These

transactions, together with a further gold inflow, will add

to bank reserves at a time when there is a strong demand

for bank loans. In order to curb the inflationary effects

of this expansion, it is important that substantial pressure

be kept on the reserve position of banks. To accomplish

this the Federal Open Market Committee proposes that sub

stantially the following program be undertaken promptly.

"1.

Short-term rates.

a. Treasury bill policies. The rates on the Sys

tem's weekly bids for exchanges of maturing bills will be

10/4/48

-10-

"adjusted so as to bring about reduction in the System's

portfolio at the time of the exchange. This will absorb

bank reserves and put the banks under some restraint. The

policy with respect to bills will be designed to achieve,

as suggested in my letter of August 11, 1948, a greater

degree of flexibility in the bill rate and, it is expected,

will result in higher rates on Treasury bills in relation

to the current rate on certificates.

"b. Certificates. The Federal Open Market Com

mittee will also allow the market yields on certificates

to increase. This increase will encourage banks to pur

chase Government securities or to maintain their holdings

and thereby discourage further loan expansion during the

remainder of the period. Furthermore, it will permit

the investment in short-term securities of corporate and

other balances which would not be attracted by existing

rates. This increased demand will enable the System to

sell some of its holdings and thereby absorb bank re

serves. Depending on market conditions, the rate might

be permitted to go as high as 1-1/2 per cent.

"c. Other short-term securities. The rates at

which the System supports other short-term securities will

be adjusted to conform to the higher certificate rate and

the 2-1/2 per cent long-term rate.

"2. Debt retirement and Treasury refunding.

Because of its restrictive effect, it is desirable

that the Treasury continue to draw upon its war loan

balances to retire securities held by the Federal Reserve

as rapidly as the Treasury's cash position permits. It

appears at the present time that bills could be retired at

the rate of $100 million a week for a number of weeks and

at the same time available trust funds could be used to

purchase marketable securities. Such purchases would re

duce the amount the System would have to purchase in sup

port of the long-term 2-1/2 per cent rate. If it should

develop during the period that System support was not

necessary for that purpose, the Treasury could purchase

the issues needed for trust account investment directly

from the System account.

"As suggested in my letter of September 13, it is

recommended that the $571 million dollar issue of bonds

to be redeemed on December 15 be refunded. This issue

is held entirely outside the Federal Reserve and retire

ment in cash would put funds into the market unnecessarily.

The terms of the refunding as well as of the certificates

-11-

"maturing on January 1, 1949, would be considered later

in the light of developments with respect to the short

term rate.

"3. Treasury balances.

Also as proposed in my letter of September 13, 1948,

it would be desirable for the Treasury to time calls on

war loan deposit accounts so as to exert some drain on

bank reserves. In carrying out the transactions referred

to above the Treasury could reduce its war loan balances

as low as $500 million (they now amount to about $2.1

billion) and could also reduce its balances with the

Federal Reserve below the present level of $1.7 billion.

Large tax receipts in the first quarter of 1949 and cur

rent income in the second quarter will provide adequate

means for meeting all needs during the remainder of the

fiscal year.

"4. Other System actions.

It is believed that as soon as the market rate on

certificates has risen above the 1-1/4 per cent rate,

the discount rate of the Federal Reserve Banks should

be increased to 1-3/4 per cent. Such action would be

an indication to the public of the System's views with

respect to the need for restraint. Also the Board of

Governors will continue to study the situation for the

purpose of determining the action that should be taken

during the period further to increase member bank re

serve requirements."

With respect to the authority to be granted to the execu

tive committee to effect transactions in the System open market

account, Mr. Rouse said that, on the assumption there would be a

meeting of the full Committee in December, an authority of $2 bl

lion would be adequate.

Thereupon, upon motion duly made and

seconded, the following direction to the

executive committee was approved, with the

understanding that the limitations contained

in the direction would include commitments

for the System open market account:

10/4/48

-12-

The executive committee is directed, until otherwise

directed by the Federal Open Market Committee, to arrange

for such transactions for the System open market account,

either in the open market or directly with the Treasury

(including purchases, sales, exchanges, replacement of

maturing securities, and letting maturities run off with

out replacement), as may be necessary, in the light of

the general credit situation of the country, for the

practical administration of the account, for the main

tenance of stable and orderly conditions in the Govern

ment security market, and for the purpose of relating

the supply of funds in the market to the needs of com

merce and business; provided that the aggregate amount

of securities held in the account at the close of this

date other than special short-term certificates of in

debtedness purchased from time to time for the temporary

accommodation of the Treasury shall not be increased or

decreased by more than $2,000,000,000.

The executive committee is further directed, until

otherwise directed by the Federal Open Market Committee,

to arrange for the purchase for the System open market

account direct from the Treasury of such amounts of

special short-term certificates of indebtedness as may

be necessary from time to time for the temporary accom

modation of the Treasury; provided that the total amount

of such certificates held in the account at any one time

shall not exceed $1,500,000,000.

It

was agreed unanimously that the

Presidents would discuss informally the

date for the next meeting of the Presidents'

Conference and that during the joint meeting

of the Board of Governors and the Presidents

tomorrow a tentative date would be fixed for

the next meeting of the Federal Open Market

Committee.

Thereupon the meeting adjourned.

Secretary.

Approved:

Chairman.