Evidence of friendly Cleveland Fed!Thank you! :-) RT @EllieAsksWhy: Contrast @gapingvoid w/hand-drawn, all-original artwork by @ClevelandFed http://youtu.be/hWdm9pp6NQU
— ClevelandFed (@ClevelandFed) June 6, 2011
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is the headquarters of the U.S. Federal Reserve System's Fourth District. The district is composed of Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia.
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| Main office in downtown Cleveland since 1923 |
The Cleveland Fed building was designed by architects Walker & Weeks. The building is considered an historically significant piece of architecture. I like how it looks too. Apparently, few know much about the art and architecture of the building, not even in Cleveland!
The building was extensively renovated about 15 years ago. The preservation company that did the work has some spectacular photos of the Fed's interior, which I couldn't find anywhere else. EDIT: Sadly, that architectural firm, WRL Design, is no longer extant: Parked domain and no business listing. I have included some others that I
Volatility Smile 3
Volatility Smile 3 is an artwork commissioned by the Cleveland Federal Reserve in 2018. The artist describes how it (abstractly) captured his anxieties about money and his uncertain financial survival.
I could find only one more photograph of the interior, which wasn't even from the Cleveland Fed. Others were fuzzy, low quality images from an Illuminati conspiracy website. The irony is not lost on me.
This is the first of the Drawing Board videos produced by the Cleveland Federal Reserve. It is a series of 16 hand drawn, Fed economist-narrated videos.
Although they are the Cleveland Fed's most popular YouTube videos (there are complements and requests for more, instead of disgruntled monetary policy complaints!) I suspect that the series has been discontinued. There have been no new entries in 11 months since 2013. EDIT: I embedded the most topical video, given the March 2023 failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank.
| Click for Propaganda and Patriotism war bonds exhibit |
I could find only one more photograph of the interior, which wasn't even from the Cleveland Fed. Others were fuzzy, low quality images from an Illuminati conspiracy website. The irony is not lost on me.
Edit NINE years later...
All links to content of the Propaganda and Patriotism exhibit of 2014 at the Federal Reserve Museum have vanished into the ether. I am disappointed and surprised.
At the moment (May 19, 2023), I'm writing a post about the central bank of Greece. The Greek economy endured a prolonged and painful interval of deprivation from 2008 to 2013. It was most directly caused by creditor demands to repay massive debts owed by the Greek government, banking system, and populace. The borrowing and spending began after Greece's induction to the EEU (European Economic Union). For various reasons I don't want to get into now, the 2008-2010 financial crisis made it unsustainable for Greece to carry its debt load any longer. The Troika interceded with a rescue plan of repayment guarantees and loans, but imposed strict austerity measures.
What is the Troika?
The coordinated authority of the European Central Bank + IMF + World Bank was known as the Troika. Germany's Finance Minister Schnable dominated the Troika for two reasons.
- Germany is the largest economy and has the least debt as a percentage of GDP in the European Economic Union.
- The IMF and World Bank are supranational entities with global remits; also, they don't have printing presses. The ECB--essentially Germany--had to cover a larger percentage of the cost to rescue Greece than either the IMF or World Bank. What was the source of ECB loans to Greece? Yes, that's right: German taxpayers, for the most part!
Minotaur
Syriza, a left-wing party, was elected as the Greek ruling party. Opposition to the EU’s demand for austerity greatly increased their appeal to voters. The brief reign of Yanis Varoufakis, self-described "global minotaur" as the Greek Minister of Finance followed. Varoufakis resigned rather suddenly, leaving Prime Minister Alex Tspiras to deal the situation. Specifically, Varoufakis departed Athens on his motorcycle with his attractive blonde wife; he wrote a best-selling book, The Global Minotaur. Although he was charismatic and captured a lot of attention, he was no minotaur.
Despite these upheavals, the Bank of Greece managed to maintain the historical continuity of non-bank industry parts of its website.
The Drawing Board
This is the first of the Drawing Board videos produced by the Cleveland Federal Reserve. It is a series of 16 hand drawn, Fed economist-narrated videos.
"Really Bad Drawings, Real Simple Explanations"
Ellie...
ReplyDeleteSince you mentioned Walker & Weeks and the architecture of the FED you might be interested in knowing that the Cleveland FED had two branch facilities in Cincinnati(built 1926)and Pittsburgh(built 1931.) Both were lavish buildings with fine interiors and exterior architectural sculpture,and both were also by Walker & Weeks. District 4 may have had the finest group of facilities in the system.
The headquarters building in Cleveland(built 1923)was designed and constructed at the same time as the magnificent New York FED. Both were conceived with the same historical precedents in mind, that being the Florentine Renaissance Palazzo; a classic Beaux Arts model for buildings of strength and permanence.
I think the Cleveland FED is relatively well known around town as the work of Walker & Weeks. But unlike Severance Hall(by W&W also)there are few reasons to go to the FED so it is not experienced by many.
The Pittsburgh and Cincinnati branch buildings have not remained part of the system. The Cincinnati building was sold and badly cut up for an apartment conversion...it is now called "The Reserve." The Art Deco Pittsburgh Branch is now being converted into a hotel. Regrettably the Cleveland FED exercised little care for the preservation of these buildings. One would think a public institution that makes it's own money could have found the funds to protect these buildings.
Thank you so much for your excellent comment, David Gill! I searched for similar information, without success, online and even on the Library of Congress website. LOC is usually an reliable reference source.
DeleteI am sad to learn of the (former) Cincinnati and Pittsburgh branch buildings status. They are irreplaceable, but that realization has yet to dawn on those who decreed their fate. When it does, it will be too late. No, it is already too late. for both buildings. I hope the Cleveland Fed will be better cared for.