United States
Ferguson: Can't predict war impact on economy
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson said on Wednesday it is very difficult to gauge how a potential war with Iraq would affect the U.S. economy.
Gold price soars on war talk concerns
Worries that US Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech on Iraq could be a harbinger of war sent gold soaring to a six-and-a-half year high on Wednesday as investors piled into the traditional safe haven in times of trouble.
Greenspan to deliver Senate report next week
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is scheduled to appear before a Senate panel next week to deliver the central bank's semi-annual report on the health of the economy, a Senate Banking Committee aide said on Tuesday.
Nyberg on the Swedish card payment market
SPEECH - In the speech 'The Swedish Card Payment Market - Current Challenges and Future Developments' Lars Nyberg of the Sveriges Riksbank said Swede's are great lovers of cash and prefer to use debit rather than credit cards. Nyberg says that as far as…
McTeer on the banking industry
SPEECH - In a speech to the Cato Institute 20th Annual Monetary Conference Bob McTeer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said the U.S. now has a low inflation rate, close to that of the euro zone. But that the US unemployment rate has been only half…
Bernanke on discretion and monetary policy
SPEECH - In the speech '"Constrained Discretion" and Monetary Policy' Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said laid out the advantages of using a framework of constrained discretion for making monetary policy. The essence of constrained discretion, he…
IMF paper on current issues in monetary policy
RESEARCH - 'Current Issues in the Design and Conduct of Monetary Policy' by Mohsin S. Khan, Director, IMF Institute, International Monetary Fund. The paper says that recent developments have brought to the forefront the idea that freely mobile capital,…
IMF Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - In the working paper 'Monetary Policy and Asset Prices: Does "Benign Neglect" Make Sense?' Michael Bardo and Olivier Jeanne of the IMF's Research Department consider the potential case for preemptive monetary restrictions when asset price…
Fed's Bernanke-U.S. recovery to pick up post-Iraq
Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben Bernanke said on Monday that if the geopolitical uncertainty surrounding a possible war against Iraq is soon resolved, the economy should grow above potential in the second half of the year.
Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks
PRESS RELEASE - Sandra Pianalto took office on February 1, 2003, as the tenth chief executive of the Fourth District Federal Reserve Bank, at Cleveland.
Chicago Fed National Activity Index, December 2002
REPORT - CFNAI shows continued softness in economic growth in December - In December, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) remained below zero for a fifth consecutive month. The monthly index came in at -0.49 in December, a small improvement…
McTeer on economic prospects for the US
SPEECH - In the speech 'X' Bob McTeer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said as a central banker he should say something about inflation. "Well, it's low and conditions are already ripe for it to go lower. Especially if growth picks up. And a policy…
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee
MINUTES - The Federal Reserve on 30 January released the minutes of its FOMC meeting of 10 December. The information reviewed at this meeting suggested that economic growth had been sluggish on balance since midsummer. Industrial production dropped…
December FOMC saw monetary policy well positioned
Federal Reserve policymakers believed they had already laid a foundation for a pickup in U.S. economic growth when they decided in December to hold interest rates steady, FOMC minutes released on Thursday showed.
Federal Reserve Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate unchanged at 1-1/4 percent, 30 January.
Treasury's Fisher declines comment on Fed job
Senior U.S. Treasury official Peter Fisher on Wednesday declined to comment when asked about reports he is a leading candidate to head the New York Federal Reserve Bank after the retirement of William McDonough in July.
Does the Beige Book move financial markets?
RESEARCH - In the Atlanta Fed Working Paper 'Does the Beige Book Move Financial Markets?' the authors examine whether the descriptive content of the Beige Book affects asset prices. Their results indicate that more positive Beige Book reports on economic…
The Fed official who cried 'bubble'
ARTICLE - The article considers the recently released transcript of an FOMC meeting from five years ago. Jerry Jordan warns in the transcript that inflation may not be the main worry for US policy makers in the future. He apparently forewarns, "The…
IMF Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - In the paper 'Market Predictability of ECB Monetary Policy Decisions: A Comparative Examination' Kevin Ross tests the idea that surveys of the ECB's monetary framework emphasise the inability of financial markets to correctly predict monetary…
IMF Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - The paper 'Why Do Many Disinflations Fail? The Importance of Luck, Timing, and Political Institutions' published on 15 January considers why so many inflation stabilizations succeed only temporarily. The authors, Javier Hamann and Alessandro…
Bank of Canada Monetary Policy Report Update
REPORT - The Bank of Canada on Thursday released its Update to the October Monetary Policy Report. These reports discuss economic and financial trends in the context of Canada's inflation-control strategy.
Fed's McTeer says new recession unlikely
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert McTeer said on Thursday the U.S. economy was unlikely to fall back into recession, saying the stage for continued growth is "set reasonably well."
Fisher seen as likely next New York Fed Chief
Although the search to fill the important shoes of New York Federal Reserve Bank President William McDonough has only just begun, it seems that the US Treasury's Peter Fisher has emerged as a clear front-runner.
Broaddus on the economic outlook for 2003
SPEECH - In the speech 'The Economic Outlook for 2003' Alfred Broaddus of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond said he thought the Federal Reserve was unlikely to "run out of ammunition" as substantial levels of liquidity could still be introduced to the…