The Fed also had crazy gold requirements. They were required by law to hold a substantial reserve. But since this reserve was statutory it couldn't be used as a

The Fed also had crazy gold requirements. They were required by law to hold a substantial reserve. But since this reserve was statutory it couldn't be used as a "real reserve," there had to be a reserve atop it. As a consequence the Fed felt it had to move extremely aggressively to protect its own balance sheet by tightening up the money supply very quickly.