Today the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System released transcripts of eight scheduled meetings and six emergency sessions of its Federal Open Market Committee during the 2008 financial crisis. (The Fed delays release of such transcripts for five years.)
- FOMC: Transcripts and Other Historical Materials, 2008, Federal Open Market Committee.
- A Chronicle of Uncertainty, Then Bold Action, in 2008 Fed Transcripts, By Binyamin Appelbaum, New York Times (Feb. 21, 2014).
The transcripts show that the Fed’s initial response to the crisis was constrained by a lack of understanding about the depth of the problems, and a deeply ingrained bias to worry more about the risk of inflation than the reality of rising unemployment. But it also shows that Fed officials responded decisively once the crisis was upon them, perhaps preventing an even deeper recession.
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