Trump v. Cook · ¶95

When President Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, few would have described it as following in a “‘long tradition.’” Ante, at 26. Before the Federal Reserve Act, the American tradition of central banking consisted mainly of the First and Second Banks of the United States, two short-lived corporations. See Act of Feb. 25, 1791, ch. 10, 1 Stat. 191; Act of Apr. 10, 1816, ch. 44, 3 Stat. 266. Congress chartered the First and Second Banks of the United States to provide banking services to the Federal Government. See ch. 10, 1 Stat. 191–196; ch. 44, 3 Stat. 266. These banks possessed no sovereign power. See ch. 10, 1 Stat. 191; ch. 44, 3 Stat. 266. “Unlike modern central banks,” the First and Second Banks of the United States “did not officially set monetary policy” and did not “regulate, hold the reserves of, or act as a lender of last resort for other banks.” Fed. Reserve Bank…

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