The Federal Reserve Bank releases a report after each FOMC meeting. The last press conference was held on March 16. Please watch the Fed Chair Powell's report on monetary policy and the economy (Just the report on monetary policy in the press conference. It's around 9 minutes. If you have time, I highly recommend that you also listen to the Q&A session. The Q&A session is held virtually due to Covid-19)

March 16, 2022 Chair Powell's press conference on Monetary Policy (Note: You can also find this information on the Federal Reserve Bank website

March 16, 2022 Chair Powell's press conference on Monetary Policy TRANSCRIPTS:https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/FOMCpresconf20220316.pdf(Links to an external site.) March 16, 2022 Federal Reserve FOMC Statement:https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20220316a.htm(Links to an external site.)

March 17, 2021Decisions Regarding Monetary Policy Implementation(Links to an external site.)

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1. What can you tell about the US economy based on Chair Powell's press conference (GDP, economic growth, unemployment, inflation)? Please also add information from your research in Module 4 and Module 5 discussions (GDP and unemployment data - remember that we have new data released on bea.gov and bls.gov since our first week. We constantly need to update data. Please check the latest data before you post your comments)
2. The Fed's dual mandate is to promote maximum employment and keep prices stable. Please first explain how the Fed used its monetary policy tools (reserve requirements, federal funds target rate, discount rate, open market operations) during the Covid recession to stimulate the economy (you can use the charts in the below links)
3. Compare the Fed's policy during Covid Recession (2020) to the policy during the Great Recession (2008-2009). How similar was the Fed's approach to combat the Covid Recession to the Fed's policy during the Great Recession? (You can use the charts below and compare data between these two periods)
4. Then, comment on the Fed's current monetary policy (2022) based on Powell's testimony. Is the current monetary policy expansionary or contractionary?