Economic Governance Structures in the United States

This report summarizes the history and organization of the principal economic governance institutions in the United States. Particular emphasis is given to the main US fiscal actors at the federal, state, and local governmental levels. Sources, beneficiaries, and trends in government revenues and expenditures are analyzed, and the lines of democratic oversight relations over other appointed US economic governance institutions are described. Debt issuance procedures at all governmental levels are examined, including the legal circumstances of US local government bankruptcies. In-depth explorations also of the US central bank in the Federal Reserve System, and the US bank deposit and resolution framework centered on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), are presented, and brief descriptions of other relevant US financial regulatory agencies provided.