Eighty Years of Observations on the Adjusted Monetary Base: 1918-1997

Recent trends in empirical macroeconomic research embedding long-run relationships between seasonal cycles and business cycles and building endogenous growth models, along with the interest of policymakers in inflation targeting, have increased the importance of long-time series of macroeconomic data. Among the more important time series are quantitative measures of monetary policy, such as the adjusted monetary base. Previously published data for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis adjusted monetary base begin in 1935 (seasonally unadjusted), and in 1950 (seasonally adjusted). In this analysis, the authors develop a consistent time series for the adjusted monetary base that begins in 1918, shortly after the founding of the Federal Reserve System.