Shadow Open Market Committee

The Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC) is an independent group of economists, first organized in 1973 by Professors Karl Brunner, from the University of Rochester, and Allan Meltzer, from Carnegie Mellon University, to provide a monetarist alternative to the views on monetary policy and its inflation effects then prevailing at the Federal Reserve and within the economics profession.
At that time, the Fed argued that rising and variable inflation since 1965 was largely attributable to non-monetary forces such as the power of labor unions and oil price shocks, and had little to do with rapid money growth. Based on the principles of monetarism developed earlier by Milton Friedman, the SOMC blamed the Great Inflation squarely on Federal Reserve policies that featured excessive money growth. 
The SOMC's principal message that persistent inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon has been widely accepted by central bankers and economists. That framework still forms the basis for the Committee's comments on and criticisms of Federal Reserve policy actions and strategy. Over time, the SOMC has broadened its focus to include issues relating to policies on international trade, exchange rates, and taxes, as well as the regulation of the U.S. banking and financial systems. 
The SOMC continues to meet twice per year and maintains an active website that includes an archive of the SOMC's position papers and "Core Beliefs" statement as well as papers of its members. Since 2009, the SOMC has operated in partnership with E21: Economic Policies for the 21st Century.
Founding and early history.
Allan Meltzer has described the circumstances that led him, together with Karl Brunner, to organize the Shadow Open Market Committee, and has also chronicled the SOMC’s early history.
When, in 1971, President Richard Nixon adopted wage and price controls in an attempt to reverse the acceleration of inflation, which by then had risen above 4 percent, Brunner and Meltzer wished to form a group of "like-minded economists" to argue against the effectiveness of wage and price controls as a tool for ending inflation and in favor of a gradual reduction in money growth as a preferred alternative. Together with William Wolman, Brunner and Meltzer chose the name "Shadow Open Market Committee," as a reference to both the Federal Open Market Committee, the Federal Reserve's monetary policy making arm, and the Shadow Cabinet as the group of ministers chosen from the opposition party within the U.K. Parliamentary system.
The original SOMC featured twelve members, equal to the number of voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, chosen from academic institutions, financial institutions, and nonfinancial businesses. Beginning on September 14, 1973, the group met semi-annually in New York City.
John Allan of the New York Times described the first SOMC meeting and policy statement. The Committee urged the Fed to abandon its efforts to fine tune the economy, and focus instead on reducing the rate of money growth from 6 ½ to 5 ½ percent per year, as an initial step towards working inflation down to more acceptable levels. 
In 1988, the SOMC moved its meeting location from New York to Washington. Changes in membership gradually occurred, with some former SOMC members leaving to accept high-ranking positions at the Federal Reserve. In this sense, Meltzer points out, the SOMC has functioned somewhat like the U.K. Shadow Cabinet, with its members rotating periodically into official policymaking positions.
Original SOMC member Robert Rasche served as Executive Vice President and Policy Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from January 1999 until his retirement in June 2011. Beryl Sprinkel, another original SOMC member, became Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in 1985. SOMC member Jerry Jordan served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors in 1981 and 1982 and as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 1992 through 2003. Lee Hoskins served as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 1987 through 1991; William Poole as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from 1998 through 2008; and Charles Plosser as President and of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia from 2006 through 2015. 
Anna Schwartz was the longest-serving member of the Shadow Open Market Committee. One of the 12 original members in 1973, Schwartz continued to attend and participate actively in SOMC meetings through 2010.
Subsequent and recent developments.
In 2009, the SOMC moved the site of its bi-annual meetings back to New York City.
At its November 2014 meeting, the Committee presented a statement of "Core Beliefs," intended to "help promote its vision and relevance in an era of increasingly complex central banking." The SOMC Core Beliefs relate to the conduct of monetary policy and to the Federal Reserve's role as lender of last resort. They are as follows:
Current members.
As of April 2019, the following people are listed at the organization. 