Outgoing Dallas Fed President Fisher Urges Sweeping Reform At U.S. Central Bank

Richard Fisher, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, used his farewell speech to unexpectedly call for sweeping reforms of the way the U.S. central bank is structured. In a speech in Manhattan, Fisher, who is retiring after 10 years as head of the Dallas Fed, called for greater power for 11 of the Fed regional banks at the expense of the New York Fed and the board of governors in Washington. Fisher said the New York Fed should no longer be the permanent vice chairman of the Fed's policy committee. Instead the role should be shared among the 12 regional Fed banks. And Fisher said the regional Fed presidents should have six votes on the Fed policy committee to match the six Fed board governors. The Fed chair would have the tiebreaking vote. At the moment, regional Fed banks, including the New York Fed, only have five votes while the board has seven including the chair.