-
Data-Independent Fed
“We are data-dependent.” That is the mantra Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell repeats at almost every press conference. The message is that the Federal Open Market Committee does not follow a predetermined path but decides meeting by meeting based on the latest economic data from various official sources. In reality, however, the Fed seems increasingly data-independent. At the National Association for Business Economics conference in Philadelphia on October 14, Powell indicated that the Fed would be making decisions despite an official data blackout caused by the ongoing federal government shutdown — now in ... (full story)