FOMC Flashcards
How many officials will be rotating into voting positions in 2017?
4
How many of those rotating into these positions are actually economists? Who?
1
Charles Evans, Chicago Fed chief
Who are the three non-economists who will be voting in 2017?
Minneapolis Fed chief Neel Kashkari
Dallas Fed chief Robert Kaplan
Philadelphia Fed chief Patrick Harker
How often do Fed chiefs cycle through voting seats at the FOMC?
Four voting seats rotate annually.
What does FOMC stand for and what is it?
Federal Open Market Committee
The FOMC is the monetary policy making body of the Federal Reserve System.
How many members is the FOMC composed of?
12 members
Who are these twelve members?
Seven members of the Board of Governors
+
NYFed president’s permanent seat (Vice Chairman)
+
4 members from the other Regional Banks on rotating basis
What is the legal structure of the Federal Reserve System? Public, private, hybrid?
It is an independent entity within government and it is not “owned” by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution.
How many meeting are held by the FOMC throughout the year?
8 meetings, roughly every six weeks
Who attends the FOMC meetings?
All Reserve Bank president, including those who are not voting members, attend the FOMC meetings, participate in the discussions, and contribute to the assessment of the economy and policy decisions.
When does the FOMC release its statements and what purpose do these statements serve?
Following each regular meeting and summarizes the Committee’s economic outlook and policy decision at that meeting.
How often are press briefings held? What purposes do they serve (2)?
Four times a year after meetings
- Present the committees current economic projections
- Give additional context for the FOMC’s policy decision.
When are minutes of the FOMC meetings published? Transcripts?
3 weeks after meetings
5 years after the meeting
How many Regional Fed Banks are there?
12
What are the Fed’s regions?
Atlanta Boston Cleveland Chicago Dallas Kansas City Minneapolis New York Philadelphia Richmond San Francisco St. Louis
When are Monetary Policy Reports delivered to Congress?
Every Feb and July
Who will be stepping down from a voting position this year?
The officials who voted in 2016 and won’t in 2017 are St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, Kansas City’s Esther George, Cleveland’s Loretta Mester and Boston’s Eric Rosengren. All but Ms. George are economists.
Mini bio: Robert Kaplan
Dallas Fed President
Took office in September 2015
Previously was a professor and associate dean at Harvard business School.
Former investment banker, having spent 23 years at Goldman Sachs.
Mini bio: Neel Kashkari
Minneapolis Fed President
Took office in January of 2016
Former aerospace engineer and served as top Treasury Dept. official from 2006 to 2009 and was tasked with running TARP
University of Illinois, BS/MS in Engineering
Mini bio: Patrick Harker
Philadelphia Fed President
Univ. of Penn, Ph.D in Civil and Urban Engineering
MA in Economics and MSE
Spent most of his career in academia, most recently as as the president of the University of Delaware. Before that, he served as the dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
