Fed (Federal Reserve)
“The Fed” stands for the Federal Reserve System. “Fed” has meant “federalist” since at least 1788; “fed” has meant “an official of the federal government” since at least 1916.
“Fed” has stood for “Federal Reserve” since at least 1954, when the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis published You and your job at the “Fed”. The use of “Fed” became common in newspaper articles and books since the 1960s.
Wikipedia: Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System (also known as the Federal Reserve, and informally as the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created in 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907. Over time, the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System have expanded and its structure has evolved. Events such as the Great Depression were major factors leading to changes in the system. Its duties today, according to official Federal Reserve documentation, are to conduct the nation’s monetary policy, supervise and regulate banking institutions, maintain the stability of the financial system and provide financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
Fed | fed, n.
Etymology: Short for federalist.
U.S.
1. = federalist n. 2.
1788 Maryland Jrnl. 3 June, The famous Dr. Spring asked a lady on which side she was, fed, or antifed.
1801 Spirit of Farmers’ Museum 56 There Feds shall cease to charge the Antis With making Frenchmen rule brave yankees.
2. An official of the federal government; spec. a member of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. slang.
1916 A. Stringer Door of Dread iv. 53 Seein’ Kestner and yuh’d told me the Feds had ev’rything fixt, I give him the glassy eye.
1935 Lit. Digest 22 June 38 ‘G Men’ have also been called ‘feds’.
OCLC WorldCat record
You and your job at the “Fed”.
Author: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
Publisher: Minneapolis, Bank, 1954.
Edition/Format: Book : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Getting to know the Fed: five radio talks
Author: David P Eastburn
Publisher: 1962.
Edition/Format: Book : English
Responsibility: David P. Eastburn, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Google Books
November 1966, Changing Times (The Kiplinger Magazine), pg. 8, col. 1:
“The Fed,” as it is known to its acquaintances, requires member banks to keep on deposit at a Federal Reserve Bank a reserve equal to a specified percentage of deposits.
Google Books
Economics and the Modern World
By Lawrence Abbott
New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace & World
1967
Pg. 382:
What the “Fed” is The Federal Reserve— often called the “Fed” by financial men and bankers—consists of 12 bankers’ banks and a controlling Board of Governors in Washington. Under its thumb are some 6,200 commercial banks, called “member banks.
17 March 1968, New York (NY) Times, “10 at Washington Parley Seek to Solve Gold Crisis” by Nan Robertson, pg. 44, col. 1:
Those meetings today to the Federal Reserve Building—both the structure and the system are called “the Fed” in Washington—around 10 A.M.
Google News Archive
19 March 1968, Robesonian (Lumberton, NC), “Business Attitudes Take Turn Against War” by John Cunniff (AP Business Analyst), pg. 6, col. 7:
The Federal Reserve, sometimes called the Fed, is faced with maintaining stability despite the handicaps of a budget deficit, a balance of payments deficit and the resulting threat of a damaging siege of inflation.
Google Books
Principles of Money
By A. J. Rogers
Hinsdale, IL: Dryden Press
1972
Pg. 45:
Banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System can borrow short term funds from the Federal Reserve (also called the Fed for short) to tide them over until their loan patterns can be adjusted.
Google Books
Contemporary Economics
By Milton Harry Spencer
New York, NY: Worth
1974
Pg. 244:
“The Fed is in.” This expression is heard frequently on Wall Street when the Federal Reserve Bank of New York buys or sells government securities such as Treasury bills and Treasury bonds — sometimes as agent for the Federal Open Market Committee and sometimes as agent for the U.S. Treasury.
Google Books
8 January 1979, New York magazinje, pg. 14, col. 1:
The Bottom Line/Jack Egan
AT THE FED: THE MONEY
RUNNER STUMBLES
1 August 1979, Aiken (SC) Standard, “‘Fed Up? This Might Help,” pg. 10A, col. 1:
With a new chairman at the helm of the government’s Federal Reserve System—nicknamed the Fed—changes are bound to be in the offing.
OCLC WorldCat record
The Fed : the inside story of how the world’s most powerful financial institution drives the markets
Author: Martin Mayer
Publisher: New York : Free Press, ©2001.
OCLC WorldCat record
End the Fed
Author: Ron Paul
Publisher: New York : Grand Central Pub., 2009.