Let's get clear on the difference between the Federal Reserve System where Bernanke works, and the district banks that --
...operate under the general supervision of the Board of Governors in Washington. Each Bank has a nine-member Board of Directors that oversees its operations.
Federal Reserve Banks generate their own income, primarily from interest earned on government securities that are acquired in the course of Federal Reserve monetary policy actions. A secondary source of income is derived from the provision of priced services to depository institutions, as required by the Monetary Control Act of 1980...
The article's about the Federal Reserve System, not the banks. In Washington DC there are about a thousand federal government employees that don't work for district banks. There's no private stock ownership of the Federal Reserve System that we're talking about. This is why you may want to reconsider what you said in your post #3.
I have clearly stated how the Federal Reserve works in other posts in this thread.
The article's about the Federal Reserve System, not the banks.
Separating the board of the Federal Reserve from the Banks of the Federal reserve seems a little like sophistry don't you think? The Board of Governors only implement policy (at the will of congress) that the Federal Reserve Banks carry out. Other than congress being able to determine how the system operates via legislation, this is just like the board of directors of a corporation. As the federal reserve banks are owned by shareholders the Federal Reserve is in fact owned by shareholders regardless of the Board of Governors being appointed by the President.