The Conflicting Roles of the Federal Reserve as Regulator and Services Provider in the U.S. Payment System

Abstract

I want to talk on a fairly abstract level about the mix of public policy objectives in the payment system and about conflict of interest at the Fed. I think the Fed has some major rethinking to do on both a policy level and a procedural level to come to grips with the fundamental conflict it has over the issue of private-sector competition in payment services.