Commentary Last week, the Fed was handed an unexpected gift as first-time jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 1969, which gives the Federal Reserve the green light to continue tapering its $120 billion monthly purchases of U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Given the Fed’s dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices, low unemployment claims along with a low unemployment rate allow the Fed to focus on combating inflation. To fight inflation, the Fed only has two policy tools. The Fed can raise the federal funds rate, which is currently at 0 percent, and it can taper or reduce the size of its balance sheet. While those two tools are good at fighting monetary inflation, or rising prices associated with money printing, neither are useful for fighting supply-chain inflation. The Fed isn’t concerned about how inflation manifests itself but only its ability to fight inflation. At the Federal …
RSS Feed | The Epoch Times