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	Federal Reserve Politics v. Independence Federal Reserve System: FED Fed. Funds Rates Discount Rate Prime Rate FDIC-Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Funds Float Money Supply Full-Reserve Banking Inflation Monetary Policy Money Supply Open Market Operations and the Federal Reserve Politics v. Independence Federal Reserve Setting Rates The financial and political independence of the Federal Reserve is essential to the credibility of member banks.  Yet despite this independence, there is still a lot of political pressure to keep interest rates low so that unemployment rates decrease, the economy grows, and people have easy access to credit and loans.  Yet most economists understand that to maintain these low interest rates also means to increase inflation, and it is the Federal Reserve's goal to fight inflation.  The surplus held by the Federal Reserve allows it to maintain this independence to meet its goals.  However, since it is still subject to oversight by Congress, the policies and procedures of the Federal Reserve can often be changed via legislation.  In an effort to maintain its independence and decrease the political influence, the Federal Reserve offers semi-annual reports to Congress.  Therefore, it will still work within the statutes dictated by Congress, but it maintains much independence in decision-making.