Fed’s Shift towards Greater Transparency
WSJ provides a nice timeline:
1975: The Federal Reserve presents testimony twice each year to Congress on the conduct of monetary policy.
1979: The FOMC releases the first semiannual economic projections.
1983: The Federal Reserve publishes the first “Beige Book,” which summarizes economic conditions in each Federal Reserve District.
1994: The FOMC begins to release a statement disclosing changes in the federal funds rate target.
2000: The FOMC begins releasing a statement after every meeting and starts to include an assessment of the balance of risks to achieving its objectives.
2002: The results of the FOMC roll-call vote are added to the post-meeting statement.
2004: The FOMC speeds up the release of its minutes: Now there is only a three-week lag, instead of waiting until after the next regularly scheduled meeting, which meant a lag of about six weeks.
2007: The FOMC decides to release its economic projections four times a year.
2011: The Fed announces that the chairman will hold four press briefing per year to present forecasts and provide additional details on policy decisions.
Rising Inflationary Concerns
Eichengreen on the Rise of the Yuan