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.
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.
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.
[2] 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.
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.