Raining sun at the Fed; the Federal Reserve adds some clarity to its record. Or does it?

• Author: Temple-Raston, Dina

When the Fed unexpectedly announced in March that it would make public each board member's vote on interest rates only hours after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting adjourned, three conspiracy theories immediately made the rounds.

There were, first, those who saw this reporting change as a power grab by Alan Greenspan: The immensely popular chairman was attempting to muzzle dissenters by outing them. Then there were those who claimed just the opposite, that the move would give individual Fed policymakers more leverage in the future. Lastly, some said this was just the Fed's latest move towards transparency--a step that was not only natural but inevitable. As with most conspiracy theories, the truth lay somewhere in a mix of the three.

What is clear is that this seemingly innocuous move will likely have an impact on global markets if only because analysts will use it to attempt to speculate on future rate moves. Previously, Fed watchers waited six weeks to find out how individual members came down on interest rates. By that time, the roll call was largely of academic interest and didn't typically move the markets. Had any members of the FOMC actually dissented at the March meeting, the surprise move towards greater transparency would have held more drama. But as it was, the unanimous roll call managed to set tongues wagging over why the Fed had decided to pull back the curtain now.

"This absolutely gives more power to Greenspan," says one former Fed official who asked not to be named. "The last thing anyone wants to look like is a dissenter in the current environment. When there is uncertainty, people close ranks, and everyone is closing ranks around the chairman because so far he has gotten it about right."

A current high-ranking Fed official agreed in part. Looking like a dissenter is riskier in times of uncertainty, he says. But to think that FOMC members would tailor their convictions because they would be made public hours later? That's a bit simplistic. "The personalities in this FOMC are such that if someone felt strongly one way or another about policy, they'd say so regardless

of when their decision would be made public," observes the official. "These FOMC members aren't lemmings; these are people who take their jobs very seriously."

Three Fed officials bristled at the suggestion that the move would further empower the chairman. In fact, they said the new public roll call would do little, if anything, to change their policy...