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What to expect when you’re expecting a Fed framework review

Sep 24, 2024
A lot has happened in monetary policy since the last time the Federal Reserve updated its long-term strategy goals.
After a busy few years in monetary policy, it’s once again time for the Federal Reserve to conduct a review of its long-term strategy.
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That time the Fed bowed to political pressure before an election

It was the lead-up to the 1972 presidential election. An era of "stagflation" was ahead. And President Richard Nixon had a plan.
After first winning the presidential election in 1968, Richard Nixon sought a boost to win reelection in 1972. So he devised a scheme to influence the Fed — and monetary policy — for a friendly economic environment in the lead-up.
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Atlanta Fed’s Bostic calls on patience amid the clamor for interest rate cuts

Aug 15, 2024
Despite high prices, “wages are growing faster than inflation," and families’ purchasing power is growing, he says.
"The first thing I think is inflation is getting back to target in an orderly way," says Raphael Bostic, president and CEO of the Atlanta Fed, about the CPI falling to 2.9%.
Stephen Nowland/Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Kyla Scanlon wants to remind us that "people are the economy"

May 30, 2024
Scanlon explains her philosophy of economic education in this excerpt from her book, "In This Economy? How Money & Markets Really Work."
Jordan Mangi/Marketplace

Inflation and politics have always been connected

May 21, 2024
Rising costs have long been a concern for Americans. What's changed is how the government intervenes in prices, economist Carola Binder writes.
"The return of inflation was not only, or even primarily, an academic concern. It was, even more, a social and a political one," economist Carola Binder writes in her book "Shock Values."
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Pandemic stimulus spending boosted the economy. What happens now that it's over?

Nov 13, 2023
The government's fiscal policy is fairly neutral now for a reason: More stimulus spending could hurt the Fed's fight against inflation.
You can think of the Federal Reserve's current fiscal policy as pretty neutral, says Michael Pugliese, senior economist with Wells Fargo.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Fed is nearing a point when it is not a matter of raising rates, but how long to keep them high, says Chicago Fed CEO Austan Goolsbee

Sep 7, 2023
There is growing confidence that the Fed can pull off lowering inflation without a recession, said Chicago Fed CEO Austan Goolsbee.
"There's a growing confidence that we can pull off" a soft landing, says Chicago Fed chief Austan Goolsbee. "The only thing I want to caution you is that it's not a guarantee."
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Milton Friedman’s “long and variable lag,” explained

Jul 24, 2023
A concept popularized by Milton Friedman in the 1960s still influences how the Fed talks about monetary policy today.
The phrase that Milton Friedman popularized — long and variable lag — still helps orient monetary policymakers today.
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The rise of the regional Fed speech

Jul 17, 2023
As the prominence of regional Federal Reserve Bank Presidents has increased over the years, so has the allure of their speeches.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

With new government hires, Turkey may be headed back to economic sanity

Recently re-elected President Erdogan's appointments to top government positions may signal a return to normal economic policy.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledges supporters at the presidential palace after winning reelection in a runoff on May 29, 2023 in Ankara, Turkey.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images