Monetary policy

George's departure will come around the same time that Chicago Fed chief Charles Evans steps down. Both will have turned 65.

The Federal Reserve will begin shedding as much as $47.5 billion of assets monthly starting June 1 to tamp down on inflation. But doing so could undermine the banking industry’s preferred source of liquidity.

The Federal Open Market Committee started its hiking cycle in March and everyone expects another increase when it meets May 3-4. Speculation is the FOMC will lift rates a half-point at that meeting. Steve Skancke, chief economic adviser at Keel Point and former White House and Treasury Department staff member, will discuss the FOMC decision and the panel’s next steps in fighting inflation.

The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee voted Wednesday to raise interest rates to between 0.75% and 1%, the largest single rate hike since 2000.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said Wednesday that the Senate would wait to confirm President Biden’s Federal Reserve picks until the return of Democrats recovering from the coronavirus.

Lael Brainard was confirmed as vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Tuesday in a 52-43 Senate vote, the first of four central bank nominees set for consideration by the chamber.

Joe Manchin, a key Democrat in the U.S. Senate, said he’s spoken to Michael Barr, President Joe Biden’s choice to be the U.S. Federal Reserve chief banking supervisor, and so far doesn’t see a problem with his nomination.

Scott Colbert, executive vice president and chief economist at Commerce Trust Co., will discuss the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and where they go from here.

No one liked it when interest interest rates hit 21% in the early 1980s, but the actions of the Federal Reserve under Paul Volcker helped save the U.S. economy from true catastrophe. That kind of leadership is lacking in today’s Washington.

Institutional independence is a big part of what makes the Federal Reserve work. But quantitative easing, new forays into climate and digital currency and a blurring of the line between monetary and fiscal policy might make that independence harder to maintain.