It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to comment on this year’s Monetary Policy Forum paper, “The Equilibrium Real Federal Funds Rate, Past, Present and Future.” Let me preface my remarks with the reminder that what I have to say today reflects my own views and not necessarily those of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) or the Federal Reserve System.1 I think this is a timely topic because it is relevant to several questions that are particularly important in the current environment. First, if one were to use a Taylor-type rule as a guide to assess the stance of monetary policy, what equilibrium real ... (full story)