Woodrow Wilson regulated the economy in several ways. The first was to lower tariffs on foreign products imported into the United States. Since tariffs were a primary source of revenue for the federal government, Wilson initiated the national income tax to replace the tariff revenue. At that time less than 1% of the population paid taxes on their income, but once the tax was in place, it greatly exceeded the money made from tariffs. Also in 1913, Wilson created the Federal Reserve System, which functioned as the central bank of the United States government.
Additionally, Wilson signed into law a number of other pieces of legislation which had a significant impact on the economy. For instance, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914 outlawed a number of questionable business practices, such as the creation of monopolies. And the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 helped to modernize agriculture.
