As the recent recession unfolded, policymakers in the U.S. and abroad employed both monetary and fiscal stabilization tools to help mitigate the downturn. One of the tools that can be used by fiscal policymakers is to actively purchase more goods and services: the idea being that the...

“Fiscal Imbalance: Problems, Solutions, and Implications” was the topic of the fifth annual Philadelphia Fed Policy Forum held on December 2, 2005. This event, sponsored by the Bank’s Research Department, brought together economic scholars, policymakers, and market economists to discuss...

Whether one looks at consumers or businesses, expectations - people's beliefs - are driving forces of every economy. The economic outcomes one can expect from public policy are affected by the way beliefs are formed and how they vary over time. In "Great Expectations: The Role of Beliefs in...

Managing the recovery in uncertain times was the topic of our third annual Philadelphia Fed Policy Forum held on November 14, 2003. This event, sponsored by the Bank’s Research Department, brought together a group of highly respected academics, policymakers, and market economists, for...