George W. Mitchell, 92, Ex-Official at the Fed
By BARRY MEIER
Published: February 1, 1997
George W. Mitchell, a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and tireless promoter of electronic banking, died last Saturday at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington. He was 92 and lived in Arlington, Va.
The cause was a heart attack, the Arlington Funeral Home said.
Mr. Mitchell was appointed a governor of the Federal Reserve by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and then vice chairman by President Richard M. Nixon in 1973. He retired from the board in 1976.
It was in the 1960's that Mr. Mitchell began advancing the Fed's vision of a ''paperless'' banking system in which computers would routinely transfer funds instantaneously between accounts. In 1972, banks in California were the nation's first to step into this new electronic world, ushering in a system of banking that is now commonplace.
Mr. Mitchell, a tax and public finance expert, also played a role in events surrounding the fiscal crisis that brought New York City to the brink of bankruptcy in 1975.
Supporting a position staked out by President Gerald R. Ford, Mr. Mitchell said the Federal Reserve opposed the Government's guaranteeing municipal bonds whose proceeds would be used to bail out the city. He maintained that once Washington started backing the debt of financially stricken municipalities, it would be subjected to all manner of political pressures as a result not only of its need to pass judgment on local governments' creditworthiness but also of the Government's stake in repayment.
The Government did eventually provide financial help to New York City. But President Ford's initial opposition was later cited as one reason why Jimmy Carter carried the state in 1976, which helped him defeat Mr. Ford in the Presidential election.
In the 1960's, when Mr. Mitchell began pressing for an electronic banking system, banks were complaining that the costs of processing a growing deluge of paper checks were becoming excessive. Mr. Mitchell optimistically predicted that consumers would accept electronic credits and debits to their accounts ''in a matter of two or three years.''
But it would take more than a decade for many employers to start using electronic deposit systems for payrolls, and many employees still prefer to get a weekly paycheck.
Mr. Mitchell was born in Richland Center, Wis. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and did graduate work at the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa.
His first marriage, to Grace Muir Mitchell, ended in divorce. She died in 1986.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Toft Mitchell; four children from his first marriage, Marilyn Mitchell of Waukesha, Wis., Bruce Mitchell of San Francisco, Judy Rediehs of Hinsdale, Ill., and Margery Curtiss of Westmont, Ill.; two stepchildren, Miriam Dewhurst of Falls Church, Va., and David Petty of Annapolis, Md.; 21 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren.