"The acceleration of productivity growth during the latter half of the 1990s was both the defining economic event of the decade and a major topic of debate among Federal Reserve policymakers. A key aspect of the debate was the conflict between incoming aggregate data, which initially suggested...

"This paper summarizes recent developments in the theory and practice of monetary policy in a closed economy and explains what these developments mean for U.S. dollar policy. There is no conflict between what is appropriate U.S. monetary policy at home or abroad because the dollar is the world's...

"The Fed's ability to control the federal funds rate stems from its ability to alter the supply of liquidity in the overnight market through open market operations. This paper uses daily data compiled by the author from the records of the Trading Desk of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over...