On April 5, the Federal Reserve Board published a study on the use of electronic payments by consumers, businesses and governments.
On April 4, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published a study on the relationship between monetary easing and rising commodity prices. It finds that commodity prices actually tended to fall on announcements of further easing.
On April 4, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published an analysis of how different countries have dealt with banking crises.
On April 1, the International Monetary Fund published a working paper which is critical of the economists’ practice of excluding volatile food prices from measures of core inflation. Since food prices are higher and less volatile in developing countries, this practice distorts the measure of inflation in such countries.
In an April 1 speech, Federal Reserve Bank of New York president William Dudley expressed concern that the Fed may tighten monetary policy too soon.
An April 1 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that inflationary expectations are rising, but very modestly.
On March 31, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a study on the cost of low interest rates.
In a March 25 speech, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia president Charles Plosser laid out an exit strategy for the Fed whereby it would begin to withdraw the monetary stimulus of the last 3 years before it becomes inflationary. In a March 29 blog post, Stanford economist John Taylor approved of the Plosser strategy.
In a March 23 commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of New York economist Jonathan McCarthy addressed the impact of rising commodity prices on consumer spending. He believes the impact will be small because food and energy costs are a relatively small component of consumer expenditures.
I last posted items on this topic on March 21.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).
