The Federal Open Market Committee in January formally announced a numerical objective for inflation, a step which has long been argued to be essential to anchoring longer-term expectations about the conduct of monetary policy.1 So it might seem a bit surprising, as this year draws to a close, to find a member of the Committee speaking at an event whose title is “The Fed’s Monetary Policy Adrift.” But on further reflection, I don’t think it should be surprising at all. Both the FOMC’s articulation of an inflation target and the sense that policy is adrift are related, I believe, to the extraordinary circumstances and ... (full story)