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The effects of policy guidance on perceptions of the Fed’s reaction function

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine Femia
  • Steven Friedman
  • Brian P. Sack

Abstract

In the past few years, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has been using forward guidance about the federal funds rate in a more explicit way than ever before. This paper explores the market reaction to the forward guidance, with particular focus on the use of calendar dates and economic thresholds in the FOMC statement. The results show that market participants interpreted the FOMC?s policy guidance as conveying important information about the Committee?s policy reaction function. In particular, market participants came to expect the FOMC to wait for lower levels of unemployment for a given level of inflation before beginning to raise the target federal funds rate, thereby shifting to a more accommodative policy approach aimed at supporting the economic recovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Femia & Steven Friedman & Brian P. Sack, 2013. "The effects of policy guidance on perceptions of the Fed’s reaction function," Staff Reports 652, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednsr:652
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. William Dudley, 2012. "Regional and national economic conditions," Speech 87, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    3. Refet S Gürkaynak & Brian Sack & Eric Swanson, 2005. "Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words? The Response of Asset Prices to Monetary Policy Actions and Statements," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 1(1), May.
    4. Ben S. Bernanke & Vincent R. Reinhart & Brian P. Sack, 2004. "Monetary Policy Alternatives at the Zero Bound: An Empirical Assessment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 35(2), pages 1-100.
    5. Refet S. Gürkaynak & Brian Sack & Eric Swanson, 2005. "The Sensitivity of Long-Term Interest Rates to Economic News: Evidence and Implications for Macroeconomic Models," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 425-436, March.
    6. Steven Friedman & Ellen Correia Golay & Michael McMorrow, 2013. "Understanding the New York Fed's Survey of Primary Dealers," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 19(Aug).
    7. Gauti B. Eggertsson & Michael Woodford, 2006. "Optimal Monetary and Fiscal Policy in a Liquidity Trap," NBER Chapters, in: NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2004, pages 75-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The Federal Reserve: Looking Back, Looking Forward
      by Guest Author in The Big Picture on 2014-01-04 16:00:00

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. King, Thomas B., 2019. "Expectation and duration at the effective lower bound," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(3), pages 736-760.
    2. Mohajeryami, Saeed, 2015. "Forecasting Feds Fund Rate: 1982-2014," MPRA Paper 67142, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Ehrmann, Michael & Gaballo, Gaetano & Hoffmann, Peter & Strasser, Georg, 2019. "Can more public information raise uncertainty? The international evidence on forward guidance," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 93-112.
    4. Maria Lucia Florez-Jimenez & Julian A. Parra-Polania, 2016. "Forward guidance with an escape clause: when half a promise is better than a full one," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(15), pages 1372-1381, March.
    5. Richhild Moessner & David-Jan Jansen & Jakob de Haan, 2017. "Communication About Future Policy Rates In Theory And Practice: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 678-711, July.
    6. Stephen J. Cole, 2021. "Learning and the Effectiveness of Central Bank Forward Guidance," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 53(1), pages 157-200, February.
    7. Ben S. Bernanke, 2014. "The Federal Reserve: Looking Back, Looking Forward : a speech at the Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 3, 2014," Speech 792, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    8. Karyne B. Charbonneau & Lori Rennison, 2015. "Forward Guidance at the Effective Lower Bound: International Experience," Discussion Papers 15-15, Bank of Canada.
    9. José Dorich & Nicholas Labelle St‐Pierre & Vadym Lepetyuk & Rhys R. Mendes, 2018. "Could a higher inflation target enhance macroeconomic stability?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(3), pages 1029-1055, August.
    10. Koepke, Robin, 2018. "Fed policy expectations and portfolio flows to emerging markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 170-194.
    11. Michelle Bongard & Gabriele Galati & Richhild Moessner & William Nelson, 2021. "Connecting the dots: Market reactions to forecasts of policy rates and forward guidance provided by the Fed," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 684-706, January.
    12. Aldy, Joseph, 2017. "Designing and Updating a US Carbon Tax in an Uncertain World," Working Paper Series rwp17-001, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    13. Eric M. Engen & Thomas Laubach & David L. Reifschneider, 2015. "The Macroeconomic Effects of the Federal Reserve's Unconventional Monetary Policies," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-5, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monetary policy; forward guidance;

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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