"Quantitative easing" has been in the headlines a lot from 2009 to 2011. First there was QE and then QE2. What exactly is quantitative easing, who does it, and how does it affect the economy? This month's newsletter has the answers.

Although the recent Great Recession was severe, its financial impact never paralleled that of the Great Depression. The November Newsletter compares these two economic downturns and shows how lessons learned in the Great Depression helped current Federal Reserve policymakers stabilize the...

Adapted from a report prepared by the Open Market Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and submitted to the Federal Open Market Committee by Peter D. Sternlight, Manager for Domestic Operations of the System Open Market Account.

The institutional environments in which central banks operate have become more alike over the past decade. The author examines the monetary policy operating procedures of the Federal Reserve and central banks in Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Switzerland. In particular, he...