Democrats’ bill would require Fed to focus on income, racial inequality – American Banker

Legislation introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., on Wednesday would require the Federal Reserve (Fed) to implement its policies in a way that would work to reduce racial and income inequality in the U.S.

Currently, the Fed works to promote full employment and keep inflation stable under the so-called dual mandate. 

Last week, Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden called for an amendment to the Federal Reserve Act to compel the central bank to report on current data and trends in racial economic gaps and work to close these gaps. 

Fed’s unconventional policies like the bond purchases have been widely criticized by experts for boosting income inequality. This is because the first beneficiaries of the newly printed money are banks and people invested in stock markets or financial assets and the benefits of asset price inflation rarely reach the main street.