Reading the Federal Reserve minutes can feel like hours, but Fed watchers still pore over them

May 24, 2022
For those who understand Fed lingo, the minutes can hint at divisions or disagreements, and where Fed policy may be headed.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell at a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on May 4. We'll get the minutes for that meeting Wednesday afternoon. Get your coffee ready.
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How looking back at the Fed’s past can help us understand its future

May 17, 2022
Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's new book charts a history of “remarkable innovation and change.”
The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.
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Fed Chair Jerome Powell: "Whether we can execute a soft landing or not, it may actually depend on factors that we don't control."

May 12, 2022
"I think the one thing we really cannot do is to fail to restore price stability," Powell told Kai Ryssdal.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, left, speaks with Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Nancy Farghalli/Marketplace

The Federal Reserve plans to shrink its balance sheet. Here's what that means.

May 3, 2022
The strategy is aimed at tightening credit and easing inflation. Purdue's Cathy Zhang worries about the effects on financial markets.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Can the Fed lower inflation without getting the economy into a recession?

"A look at the record shows that the Fed often stumbles in its efforts to save the day," says Ben White, chief economic correspondent at Politico.
Recessions have followed many of the Federal Reserve's past interest rate hikes.
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Fed announces interest rate hike to combat inflation

Mar 16, 2022
With more likely to follow, the rate hikes will eventually mean higher loan rates for many consumers and businesses.
Tom Williams/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Big banks set to give investors good earnings news

Jan 10, 2022
Bank investors expect continued strength in 2022 because yields on loans could rise along with Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Bank profits may increasingly be driven by trading, investment and cryptocurrency rather than consumer lending.
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For public good, not for profit.

How Fed "tapering" can make mortgages more expensive

Dec 2, 2021
It opens the door to interest rate hikes.
Homebuyers have been benefiting from low interest rates. The Federal Reserve's plan to reduce bond purchases may change that.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Biden seeks to keep Powell in place, elevate Brainard at Federal Reserve

Nov 22, 2021
Brainard will be nominated for vice chair. The two officials typically agree on monetary policy but sometimes diverge on regulation.
President Joe Biden names Jerome Powell, left, as his nominee for Federal Reserve chair and Lael Brainard, right, as vice chair.
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Is Jerome Powell's job as Federal Reserve chair in jeopardy?

Oct 20, 2021
Critics have intensified calls for a new Federal Reserve chair following Powell's financial disclosures, says Rachel Siegel of The Washington Post.
Some are calling for a new Fed Chair following release of Powell's financial disclosures. Above, Fed Chair Jerome Powell visiting Capitol Hill on Oct. 6.
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