The Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC) was founded in 1973 by Karl Brunner of the University of Rochester and Allan Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University. Now sponsored by the Manhattan Institute, the SOMC is an independent group of economists drawn from academic institutions and private organizations that provides external perspective on the policy choices and actions of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee. The SOMC also addresses a range of macroeconomic issues including banking policy and fiscal policy matters that bear on FOMC decisions. The Committee’s deliberations are intended to improve discussions among policy makers, journalists, and the general public with the hope that wiser policy decisions will result.