The Fed in Wartime
World War I and World War II strongly shaped Fed policy and actions.
Liberty Loan poster, 1917 (Image courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Archives)
Last updated October 12, 2023
Essays in This Theme
The Federal Reserve's Interactions with Japanese Americans during WWII - As part of the war effort, the Fed was assigned a duty well outside of its normal activities
Federal Reserve's Role During WWI - World War I was the first test of the nation's new central bank
Federal Reserve's Role During WWII - The Federal Reserve supported the war effort in several ways
From WWII to the Treasury-Fed Accord - The Federal Reserve pegged interest rates at a low level during World War II in order to facilitate the financing of government debt and enforced that peg for six years after the war’s end.
Liberty Bonds - The Treasury and the Fed worked together to finance World War I
The Second World War and Its Aftermath - Monetary policy fundamentally changed during the period of 1941 to 1951
