US Monetary Policy Forum

Sponsored by the Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets, this annual conference brings together policymakers, leading scholars, and market economists to discuss US monetary policy. In advance of each event, members of the forum’s panel of scholars produce a report on a different critical issue confronting the Federal Open Market Committee. The conference then focuses on that topic. Attendance at the US Monetary Policy Forum is by invitation only.

UPCOMING EVENT

We will announce the 2025 conference later this year.

MEET OUR PANELISTS

Panelists for the US Monetary Policy Forum are business leaders, economic experts, and leading scholars on monetary topics and policies.

Seth Carpenter
Global Chief Economist, Morgan Stanley

Wenxin Du
Henry Kaufman Professor of Financials Institutions, Columbia Business School

Michael Feroli
Chief US Economist, JPMorgan

Kristin Forbes
Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and Global Economics, MIT

Fiona Greig
Global Head of Investor Research and Policy, Vanguard Investment Strategy Group

Anil Kashyap (co-chair)
Stevens Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance, Chicago Booth

Matthew Luzzetti
Chief US Economist, Deutsche Bank

Frederic S. Mishkin (co-chair)
Alfred Lerner Professor of Banking and Financial Institutions, Columbia Business School

Linda Tesar
Professor of Economics, University of Michigan

Kenneth D. West
Ragnar Frisch and John D. MacArthur Professor of Economics, University of
Wisconsin-Madison


 

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORTS

Each year, our panelists produce a report on a particular critical issue confronting the Federal Open Market Committee in the medium term. Reports from previous years are available to download on the following conference pages.





CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT 2023
Managing Disinflations

REPORT DISCUSSION
Philip Jefferson, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (read speech)
Loretta Mester, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (read speech)

PANEL: WHY DID WE MISCAST INFLATION?
Susan M. Collins, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (read speech)
Yuriy Gorodnichenko, University of California, Berkeley (view slides)
Mervyn King, London School of Economics (read speech)
Christopher Waller, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (panel moderator)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT 2022
Some Benefits and Risks of a Hot Economy

REPORT DISCUSSION
Charles Evans, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (read his remarks here)
Christopher Waller, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (read his remarks here)

PANEL: Central Bank Digital Currencies
Lael Brainard, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (read her remarks here)
Fabio Panetta, European Central Bank (read his remarks here)
Jackie Reses, Post House Capital (view her slides here)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT 2020
Monetary Policy for the Next Recession

REPORT DISCUSSION
Raphael Bostic, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (read speech)
Lael Brainard, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (read speech)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Philip Lane, European Central Bank (read speech)

PANEL: Hall of Mirrors: Feedback Between Monetary Policy and Financial Markets
Richard Clarida, Board of Governors of Federal Reserve (read speech)
Rick Rieder, BlackRock
Silvana Tenreyro, London School of Economics & Bank of England (read remarks)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT 2019
Prospects for Inflation with a High-Pressure Economy

REPORT DISCUSSION
Mary Daly, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (view presentation)
John Williams, Federal Reserve Bank of New York (read speech)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Richard Clarida, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (read speech)

PANEL: THE FUTURE OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BALANCE SHEET
James Bullard, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (view presentation)
Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly, Fidelity (view presentation)
Randal Quarles, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (read speech)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT 2018
A Skeptical View of the Impact of the Fed’s Balance Sheet

REPORT DISCUSSION
Eric Rosengren, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
William Dudley, Federal Reserve Bank of New York (read speech)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Paul Krugman, CUNY

PANEL: A Review of Objectives for Monetary Policy
Olivier Blanchard, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Benoit Cœuré, European Central Bank (read speech)
Loretta Mester, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (read speech)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT 2017
Deflating Inflation Expectations: The Implications of Inflation’s Simple Dynamics

REPORT DISCUSSION
Charles L. Evans, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (read speech)
Jeffrey Lacker, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (read speech)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Stanley Fischer, Vice Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
(read speech)

PANEL: NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES: LESSONS FROM INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Hyun Song Shin, Economic Adviser, Bank for International Settlements (read speech)
Hiroshi Nakaso, Deputy Governor, Bank of Japan
Carmen M. Reinhart, Professor, Harvard University

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2016
Language after Liftoff: Fed Communication Away from the Zero Lower Bound

REPORT DISCUSSION
Jerome Powell, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System (read speech)
John Williams, President, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (read speech)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Jeremy Stein, Professor of Economics, Harvard University (read speech)

PANEL: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY POLICY SYNCHRONIZATION
Lael Brainard, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System (read speech)
Maurice Obstfeld, Director of Research, International Monetary Fund
Peter Praet, Executive Board Member, European Central Bank

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2015
The Equilibrium Real Funds Rate: Past, Present, and Future

REPORT DISCUSSION
William Dudley, President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York (view comments)
Loretta J. Mester, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (view comments)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Ben S. Bernanke, Brookings Institution

PANEL: CENTRAL BANKING WITH LARGE BALANCE SHEETS
Vítor Constâncio, European Central Bank (view slides)
Stanley Fischer, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (view comments)
Hiroshi Nakaso, Bank of Japan (view comments)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2014
Market Tantrums and Monetary Policy

REPORT DISCUSSION
Narayana Kocherlakota, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (view comments)
Jeremy C. Stein, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board (view comments)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Robert E. Rubin, Council on Foreign Relations

PANEL: MONETARY POLICY STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATIONS
Charles Evans, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (view comments)
Charles I. Plosser, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (view comments)
Sayuri Shirai, Member of the Policy Board, Bank of Japan (view comments)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2013
Crunch Time: Fiscal Crises and the Role of Monetary Policy

REPORT DISCUSSION
Jerome H. Powell, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank System (read speech)
Eric S. Rosengren, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (view comments)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
N. Gregory Mankiw, Harvard University
The Fiscal Challenge Ahead

PANEL: US FISCAL PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
Douglas Elmendorf, Congressional Budget Office
Martin Feldstein, Harvard University and NBER
Alice Rivlin, Brookings

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2012
Housing, Monetary Policy, and the Recovery

REPORT DISCUSSION
James Bullard, Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis (view comments)
John Williams, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (view comments)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Mark Carney, Bank of Canada (read speech)

PANEL: FISCAL CHALLENGES AROUND THE WORLD
Charles Plosser, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (read speech)
William Dudley, Federal Reserve Bank of New York (read speech)
Jürgen Stark, European Central Bank (view slides)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2011
Stressed Out: Macroprudential Principles for Stress Testing

REPORT DISCUSSION
Peter Diamond, MIT professor and Nobel laureate in economic sciences (view comments)
Jeffrey Lacker, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Donald Kohn, Brookings Institution
Challenges for Central Banks

PANEL: UNCONVENTIONAL MONETARY POLICY
Charles Bean, Bank of England
Vítor Constâncio, European Central Bank (view slides)
Janet Yellen, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (read speech)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2010
Financial Conditions Indexes: A New Look after the Financial Crisis

REPORT DISCUSSION
William Dudley, Federal Reserve Bank of New York (view comments)
Narayana Kocherlakota, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (view comments)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University
Debt and the Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis: Is This Time Different?

PANEL: FINANCIAL REGULATORY REFORM
Charles Evans, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (view slides)
Anil K Kashyap, Chicago Booth (view comments)
Daniel Tarullo, Federal Reserve Board of Governors (view comments)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2009
Oil and the Macroeconomy: Lessons for Monetary Policy

REPORT DISCUSSION
Janet Yellen, President, Federal Reserve Board of San Francisco (view comments)
James Bullard, President, Federal Reserve Board of St. Louis (view comments)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Christina D. Romer, Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (read speech)
The Case for Fiscal Stimulus: The Likely Effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

PANEL: MAKING MONETARY POLICY DURING A FINANCIAL CRISIS
Charles Plosser, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (view comments)
Eric S. Rosengren, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (view comments)
Frederic Mishkin, Columbia University (view presentation)

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2008
Leveraged Losses: Lessons from the Mortgage Market Meltdown

REPORT DISCUSSION
Frederic Mishkin, Federal Reserve Board of Governors (view remarks)
Eric Rosengren, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (view remarks)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Vincent Reinhart, Chief Economist, Standish Mellon Asset Management (read speech)
The Governance, Communication, and Conduct of Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy

PANEL: BALANCING FINANCIAL STABILITY, PRICE STABILITY, AND MACROECONOMIC STABILITY
Charles Evans, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Peter Hooper, Deutsche Bank (view remarks)
William Poole, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Kenneth West, University of Wisconsin

See Full Program »

CRITICAL-ISSUE REPORT, 2007
Understanding the Evolving Inflation Process

REPORT DISCUSSION
Donald L. Kohn, Federal Reserve Board of Governors (view remarks)
Jeffrey M. Lacker, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (view remarks)

KEYNOTE SPEECH
Alan Blinder, Princeton University (view slides)

PANEL: LIQUIDITY AND MONETARY POLICY
Randall S. Kroszner, Federal Reserve System
Gary H. Stern, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

See Full Program »