TEN magazine is a quarterly publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City focused on the connection between the Bank’s research and the Tenth Federal Reserve District. TEN also features articles on the Federal Reserve’s history, structure and operations.

The spring issue of TEN gives readers a glimpse inside the Kansas City Fed's recently built headquarters. Other feature articles include: the combination of factors that led to the nationwide foreclosure surge; a look back at 2007 may foretell what's to come this year in rural America; and the head-on opposition commercial businesses face when trying to enter the banking sector. This issue also includes the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's 2007 Annual Report.

Cover Story:
Building for the future: Kansas City Fed moves into new headquarters
The country’s newest Federal Reserve Bank building includes many connections to the past. The facility opens to the public July 1.

FEATURES
Rural snapshots: A look back at 2007 gives a glimpse of 2008
Ethanol and export demands as well as strong farm gains have been promising, but it’s rising production costs that will determine rural America’s prosperity this year.

Industrial Loan Companies: Commercial businesses face head-on opposition to entering the banking sector
Current law leaves ILCs as the only option for businesses like Wal-Mart and Home Depot to open a bank, but this possibility causes uproar.

Repairing the damage: A combination of factors led to the nationwide foreclosure surge
The onslaught may continue through the next few years, but help is available for homeowners in distress.

2007 Annual Report
Listings of officers, directors and advisory councils, and financial reports for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

TEN is published quarterly by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The views and opinions expressed in TEN are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the Federal Reserve System, its Governors, officers or representatives.

The Tenth Federal Reserve District includes western Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado and northern New Mexico.

Download TEN Magazine, Spring 2008

PDF format, 10.8MB, 86 Pages.

Visit TEN Magazine Website

The Federal Reserve System

Congress created the Federal Reserve in 1913 to bring financial stability after a number of banking panics. It is the nation’s third central bank. The first, established in 1791, and the second, created in 1816, were each operational for 20 years. In both cases, its charter failed to be renewed and the banks closed.

With the Federal Reserve Act, Congress sought to create a central bank the public would be more likely to support by making it “decentralized” with more local control. This new structure was designed to overcome one of the primary weaknesses of the previous central banks: public distrust of an institution that many felt could potentially be under the control of either government or special interests. The new central bank is a network of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks, located throughout the country and under the leadership of local boards of directors, with oversight from the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., a government agency.

The Federal Reserve is considered to be independent within government and broadly insulated from political pressures. While members of the Board of Governors are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate, the Federal Reserve’s regional structure, including local boards of directors and advisory councils, ensures that views from a broad spectrum of the public nationwide contribute to the central bank’s deliberations.

President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act on Dec. 23, 1913, and the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks opened on Nov. 16, 1914.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and its Branches in Denver, Oklahoma City and Omaha serve the Tenth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses western Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado and northern New Mexico.

As a part of the Federal Reserve System, the Bank participates in setting national monetary policy, supervising and regulating numerous commercial banks and bank holding companies, and providing check processing and other services to depository institutions.

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