The Outlook for the National and Regional Economy and Monetary Policy: Low-Frequency Policymaking in a High-Frequency World

Good afternoon and thank you for that very kind introduction. I also thank the Cleveland Association for Business Economics, CFA Society Cleveland, and the Northern Ohio chapter of the Risk Management Association for inviting me to speak today. The very first speech I gave in Cleveland as president of the Cleveland Fed was at your organizations' invitation. As they say, you never forget your first, and so it is with great pleasure that I am back with you today. Another reason I'm happy to be here is that I believe an important responsibility of Federal Reserve policymakers is to share their economic perspectives with the public. Congress has wisely given the Fed independence in making monetary policy decisions in pursuit of our statutory goals of price stability and maximum employment. I say \"wisely\" because a body of research and practical experience both here and abroad show that when central banks formulate monetary policy free from short-run political interference, the policy is more effective and yields better economic outcomes. But to preserve that independence, the central bank must be held accountable for its policy decisions. And a key component of that accountability involves policymakers providing information to the public on their evaluation of economic conditions, their outlook for the economy, and the rationale for their decisions.