An assertion that central banks can promote long-term investment and stable economic growth only by guaranteeing price stability and that a coordinated global easing of monetary policies would damage central-bank credibility and jeopardize progress against inflation.

A response by the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Jerry L. Jordan to critics who assert that the central bank intentionally slows the real growth of the economy in order to keep wage and price pressures in check. Jordan asserts that stabilizing the purchasing power of money is the best...

How well did the federal funds futures market anticipate recent monetary policy actions? The authors examine the predictive content of fed funds futures rates, which provide the Federal Open Market Committee with a clear reading of market expectations for policy, in the context of 1994 policy...

The yield curve has a wealth of information about future interest rates and economic conditions. Users should exercise caution, though, as many of the relationships that hold between the behavior of the curve and what it foretells depend on the monetary regime in place at the time the curve is...

A review of some of the important developments in economic theory that have altered our understanding of the real-nominal interaction, and a discussion of the implications for monetary policy.

This Commentary contains an insider’s view of the decisionmaking process followed by the monetary policymakers of the FOMC. In particular, Sandra Pianalto, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and a member of the FOMC, describes her take on the objectives, principles, and...

A discussion of the pernicious effects of inflation on U.S. economic efficiency and a recommendation that the Federal Reserve should move toward its goal of price stability through an information program stating its goals, methods, and timetables for achieving zero inflation.

The Taylor rule, which once was mentioned only in scholarly economics journals, now is popping up regularly in newsmagazines, finance journals, and central bankers' speeches. Does the Fed follow the rule? Should it? This Commentary explains what the Taylor rule is, discusses why it seems to...

An overview of monetary policy developments in 1993, discussed in the context of the longer-term objective of price stability.