Monetary Policy

In recent years, America has experienced higher inflation than we've seen in a long time.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) is currently grappling with a significant dilemma reminiscent of the classic Trolley Problem, where any decision carries considerable consequences.  This predicament stems from the Fed's dual mandate: to achieve maximum employment and maintain stable prices, specifically targeting low inflation which they have determined is 2.0 percent on a trending basis.&nbs

For not fully understood reasons, conditions for the Big Bang were met about 13.8 billion years ago.  This unfathomable event set off a series of reactions.  Evidence of the reaction’s aftermath is observable even today.  For instance, according to NASA, we can still see the heat that was there roughly 380,000 years after the expansion of the universe (13.42 billion years a

The world is just a few days removed from the 2024 solar eclipse, and some have already booked their flights and places to stay for the next one.  It will happen on August 12, 2026 and will be visible in Greenland, western Iceland, and northern Spain.  Happening in August, the event is more than two years away, yet we know when it will occur because of math.

The Weight from the Canadian-American rock group The Band is probably their best-known song.  Its lyrics evoke feelings of burdens, responsibility, and interconnectedness of community obligations.  In times of need, the Federal Reserve can counteract negative conditions in the economy as it did in the Great Financial Crisis and the economic challenges America faced during the Covid-19

At times it can feel as if America’s current circumstances are unique.  However, patterns often emerge which appear similar to those of other periods.  At the foundation of history are people, individuals influenced in a large part by emotions, no differently than we all are today. 

Those in the economics profession are often charged with making forecasts.  For some periods, there is a lot of agreement regarding the path of the economy.  But then the road gets bumpier, and opinions begin to differentiate more and more.  Th

At first, hopscotch, a children's game, and monetary policy, an aspect of macroeconomics, couldn't seem more disparate.

The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer, telling the story of Odysseus, a Greek warrior embarking on a long journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Along the way, Odysseus faces many adventures and must battle monsters, gods, and the sea itself. He eventually makes it home, but not before enduring a series of obstacles and tasks set by the gods.

America’s central bankers gathered for the first time this year earlier in the week.  Each year, four presidents of the Fed’s regional banks serve a 12-month term on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to help the seven governors and the President of the New York Regional Fed Bank set monetary policy, making this the first time for the current mix to decide on interest rat