A very readable overview of monetary policy in the United States by Robert L. Hetzel, a staff economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Abstract:
Since the establishment of the Federal Reserve System in 1913, policymakers have always pursued the goal of economic stability. At the same time, their understanding of the world and of the role of monetary policy has changed dramatically. This evolution of views provides a laboratory for understanding what kinds of monetary policy stabilize the economy and what kinds destabilize it.
Available here.
