From Secrets of the Temple, by William Greider “The Choice of Wall Street,” is the title of the first chapter in William Greider’s 1987 book, “Secrets of The Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country.” This chapter is basically the story of how and why Paul Volcker was chosen to be the new Federal Reserve Chairman. It all started in 1979 when President Jimmy Carter took a trip to Camp David with his most trusted advisers, the purpose of which was to decide on the course of action that needed to be taken to regain popular support so that he had a chance to win the upcoming Presidential election. All of his advisers understood that the economy was his most pressing issue. Inflation was incredibly high and all attempts to curb it had been useless. The Fed Chairman position was open and Carter needed to find someone strong to fill it. The Fed was supposed to be an entity that was separate from political persuasion. However, many Presidents select chairmen that they think they will have some control over. This is what makes Carter’s ultimate choice so interesting. After going over all of the candidates Carter ended up choosing Paul Volcker. Volcker, as most knew was a very independent person. He would not be the puppet of any President. Carter understood this quite well, but still thought that Volcker would be able to get a handle on inflation. Many said that Carter sacrificed his reelection to the Fed. This may or may not be true. What is true, however, is that Volcker did help to slow down inflation and get the economy back on track. The problem that the American people saw that President Carter did not see was that Volcker did this by helping out Wall Street and not Main Street. Greider conveys many different points in this first chapter. This paper will analyze three of the most important.-The competition between Wall Street, Main Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue.-The impact o...
