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The FOMC's Use of Operational Targets: 85 Years and Counting

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This paper uses summaries of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC’s) meetings to identify its operational targets and map those to operating regimes. We find that operational targets were more often discussed in the earlier part of the FOMC’s 85-year history, but recent years have seen a resurgence in discussions. We identify distinct operating regimes and find that regimes with discussions of multiple targets, usually rate and quantity pairs, are more common than regimes dominated by discussions of single targets. We document that the current period (the 2007-2009 financial crisis to today) is a notable break in operational targets from earlier periods. We also show that shifts in operational targets occur during recoveries, or after a significant downturn in the macroeconomy.

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  • Jeff W. Huther & Kevin F. Kiernan & Elizabeth C. Klee & Ethan Rodriguez-Shah, 2023. "The FOMC's Use of Operational Targets: 85 Years and Counting," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-039, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:96641
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2023.039
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    1. Sriya Anbil & Mark A. Carlson & Christopher Hanes & David C. Wheelock, 2020. "A New Daily Federal Funds Rate Series and History of the Federal Funds Market, 1928-1954," Working Papers 2020-016, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 13 Jul 2020.
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    3. Bindseil, Ulrich, 2014. "Monetary Policy Operations and the Financial System," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198716907.
    4. Cook, Timothy & Hahn, Thomas, 1989. "The effect of changes in the federal funds rate target on market interest rates in the 1970s," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 331-351, November.
    5. Axilrod, Stephen H & Lindsey, David E, 1981. "Federal Reserve System Implementation of Monetary Policy: Analytical Foundations of the New Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(2), pages 246-252, May.
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