In a speech in 2022, Patricia Zobel, who was then an official of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, noted that “an ample supply of reserves ensures that control over the level of the federal funds rate . . . is exercised primarily through the setting of the Federal Reserve’s administered rates.”

a. What does Zobel mean by “administered rates”?

b. What administered rates is Zobel referring to?

c. Before 2008, when the banking system was operating under a scarce-reserves regime, did the Fed rely on administered rates to control the federal funds rate? Briefly explain.