Current FAQs
Informing the public about the Federal Reserve
Featured Questions
Money, Interest Rates, and Monetary Policy
- Why are interest rates being kept at a low level?
- What are the Federal Reserve's large-scale asset purchases?
- How will the Federal Reserve ensure that the size of its balance sheet won’t lead to excessive inflation?
- Why do the U.S. economic recovery and labor market require additional monetary policy support? Specifically, why did the Federal Reserve begin purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities in September 2012?
- How does forward guidance about the Federal Reserve's target for the federal funds rate support the economic recovery?
- How do the Federal Reserve's balance sheet measures since the financial crisis relate to the borrowing decisions of the federal government?
- What is the Federal Reserve's maturity extension program (referred to by some as "operation twist") and what is its purpose?
- How does monetary policy influence inflation and employment?
- What are the Federal Reserve's objectives in conducting monetary policy?
- What is the money supply? Is it important?
- What is the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy, and how are they related?
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Last update:
September 14, 2012