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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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What the phrase "soft landing" says about how we view the economy

Sep 19, 2022
The metaphor for the Federal Reserve's inflation-fighting goal is losing favor. Hard landings are more common, unfortunately.
In the '70s, Treasury chief George Shultz used the term "soft landing" to describe how a mild economic cooldown could fight inflation. Now, Fed Chair Jay Powell is facing a rocky landscape.
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Fed’s hawkish stance on inflation brings pain to marginalized communities, economist says

Michelle Holder expects Black and Latinx workers to lose jobs in higher proportion as interest rates rise and the economy cools.
Federal Reserve policies that increase interest rates and chill economic growth are aimed at bringing down inflation, but they can also put stress on households and businesses. Above, the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Why this yield curve inversion could be different

Aug 14, 2019
This time around, it may not be telling us that a recession's on the way.
Investors, spooked by economic fears, dumped stocks on Wednesday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 800 points. Above, the New York Stock Exchange.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Fed enters the instant-payment fray

Aug 6, 2019
The Federal Reserve has plans for a new instant payment network, set to launch in 2023 at the earliest. But critics say the Fed's waiting too long, given that a rival instant payment network already exists.
The Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., in 2008.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Global slowdown could hold back U.S. economy

Jul 29, 2019
In setting U.S. monetary policy, the Fed is eyeing the global impact of trade wars and other economic troubles.
A man looks at a screen showing global stock market information on the street in Tokyo on in 2015.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images

What the Fed may be weighing as it decides what to do about interest rates

Jul 29, 2019
Unemployment is low. Consumer spending is high. But we're also in a trade war with China, and growth is slowing around the world.
A view of the Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

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The Boston Fed president says the economy is doing "quite well"

What could this mean for an interest rate cut this month?
Eric Rosengren has been serving as the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston since 2007.
Courtesy of Boston Federal Reserve

Why is central bank independence so important, anyway?

Jul 8, 2019
Economist Arthur Laffer said the Fed should be "subjected to democracy." But what would that look like?
A view of the U.S.'s central bank, the Federal Reserve, in Washington D.C.
Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

Trump wishes the Fed would push down the dollar, but that's not the Fed's job

Jun 28, 2019
Inflation and employment are the central bank's mandates. The exchange rate isn't.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images