Regional Dissent: Do Local Economic Conditions Influence FOMC Votes?

US monetary policy decisions are made by the 12 voting members of the FOMC, seven of which inherently represent national-level interests. The remaining members, a rotating group of presidents from the 12 Federal Reserve districts, come instead from subnational jurisdictions. Does this structure have implications for the monetary policymaking process? We provide novel evidence that regional economic conditions influence the voting behavior of district presidents. Specifically, a regional unemployment rate that is 1 percentage point higher than the national level is associated with an approximately 9 percentage point higher probability of dissenting in favor of looser policy at the FOMC. (JEL E24, E32, E43, E52, E58)