According to Reagan: A Life in Letters (pgs. 298-299), Reagan sent a hand-written letter to Gordon Luce, the CEO of a California savings bank, on July 23, 1981, responding to a memo from Luce criticizing the lack of accountability for the Federal Reserve and its unpredictable money supply policies:
Dear Gordon:
Thanks very much for your letter and for the observations about the Federal Reserve. I did spend my time in Ottawa telling the others, the Fed and high interest rates were not part of our economic package. I’ve passed your essay on to our economic types to see if they have an answer to whether or not the Federal Reserve is really necessary. Again, thanks.
Best regards, Ron
The editors of the book also note that “Reagan redirected Luce’s memo to Murray Weidenbaum, who chaired his Council of Economic Advisers, with the message: ‘Do we really need the Fed?’ It was a question Reagan had asked Volcker at their first meeting in January 1981.”
