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The Fed's heightened rates are still way below historic levels

Jun 23, 2022
Trevon Logan, professor of economics at The Ohio State University, says we're looking at a "new normal" for the federal funds rate.
Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images

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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What does it mean when the Federal Reserve uses its “tools”?

Mar 29, 2022
The Fed’s tools can only go so far. “All of this activity relies on the other institution at the end of the transaction,” said economics professor Nina Eichacker.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaking last week at the NABE Economic Policy Conference. "We aim to use our tools to moderate demand growth, thereby facilitating continued, sustainable increases in employment and wages," he said.
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"Trust is our most important tool," says San Francisco Fed chief Mary Daly

Oct 6, 2021
Mary Daly weighs in on inflation, the debt ceiling impasse and why public trust is essential for monetary policymakers at the central bank.
Mary Daly, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, with "Marketplace" host Kai Ryssdal. "If we don't have the people's trust, then nothing we do will matter," she said.
Sean McHenry/Marketplace

For Black workers, unemployment is 4 percentage points higher than for whites. Can the Federal Reserve fix that?

Sep 9, 2021
Wendy Edelberg, director of the Hamilton Project, says monetary policy has a roleay, but it's "not the whole show."
Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The central bank has been keeping interest rates low, but Wendy Edelberg says in the near future it should let the economy "grow on its own two feet."
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"Monetary policy is the wrong tool": Why economist El-Erian thinks the Fed is making a mistake

Aug 30, 2021
The economist and businessman disagrees with Fed Chair Jerome Powell's belief that inflation is transitory.
"I am saying, 'You know what, we have to be more humble about the inflation dynamics,'" Mohamed El-Erian says.
Rob Kim/Getty Images

Are we entering an era of higher inflation?

Jul 15, 2021
Experts say global forces that helped keep inflation low for decades — like international trade and an expanding workforce — are dissipating.
Global trade and the worldwide labor force have restrained inflation, experts say, but key trends might be reversing.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

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What role does the Fed have in mitigating climate change?

Jun 4, 2021
The Fed has to walk a fine line between mitigating disaster and shifting monetary policy to focus on fighting climate change.
Federal Reserve Board Jerome Powell testifies during a hearing on "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress."
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

IMF upgrades its economic forecast, but the virus remains in control

Jan 26, 2021
Chief economist Gita Gopinath explains why there's still a lot of uncertainty weighing on the global economy.
"We have a small upgrade of .3%," says IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath about the latest World Economic Outlook. "But there is tremendous uncertainty because we have a mutating virus. And we are in this race with vaccinations."
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

If the Fed's nominees were confirmed, could they change monetary policy?

Jul 28, 2020
The central bank's board of governors is designed with checks and balances, so one member's influence would be limited.
Judy Shelton, left, and Christopher Waller testify during a hearing on their nominations to the Federal Reserve board of governors in February.
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