Committee participants continued their discussions related to the ongoing review of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy strategy, tools, and communication practices. Staff briefings provided an assessment of a range of monetary policy tools that the Committee could employ to provide additional economic stimulus and bolster inflation outcomes, particularly in future episodes in which the policy rate would be constrained by the effective lower bound (ELB). The staff first discussed policy rate tools, focusing on three forms of forward guidance—qualitative, which provides a nonspecific indication of the expected ... (full story)

Federal Reserve officials generally agreed that they likely won’t need to cut interest rates again unless economic conditions change significantly, according to minutes released Wednesday from their most recent meeting. Central bankers in late October cut their benchmark overnight lending rate a quarter-point to a range of 1.5%-1.75%, the third such move in 2019. However, in doing so “most” Federal Open Market Committee members saw the moves as enough “to support the outlook of moderate growth, a strong labor market, and inflation near the Committee’s symmetric 2 percent objective,” the meeting summary stated. The ... (full story)