The goal of the National Animal Identification System is to trace the origin of a diseased animal within 48 hours. But would an optional, voluntary system accomplish this goal without unduly hurting small farmers?

Amidst the overall strength and longevity of the U.S. economic expansion of the 1990s, a growing current account deficit is one indicator that often is viewed with concern. In this article, Michael Pakko discusses some basic economic principles about current accounts and how they relate to the...

Inflation can cause costly misallocations of resources as consumers seek to protect the purchasing power of their nominal assets. In this article, Michael R. Pakko discusses the nature of these distortions - known as "shoe-leather" costs - in a model where the demand for money is motivated by a...

For over two decades, the FOMC has included in its policy decisions a statement of bias toward subsequent tightening or easing of policy. This article examines the predictive content of these statements in a Taylor-rule setting, finding that they convey useful information for forecasting changes...