Overview
- The Federal Reserve announced the creation of five independent task forces on Thursday to reassess core parts of U.S. monetary policymaking and recommend changes to the FOMC.
- Each panel will be co-led by outside experts and supported by Fed staff; the groups must follow the evidence and submit rigorous findings for the policy-setting committee.
- Notable appointments include Raghuram Rajan on the Balance Sheet Policy task force, Raj Chetty as co-leader of the Data task force, and Microsoft executive Asha Sharma on the Productivity and Jobs task force.
- The Balance Sheet panel will examine the costs, benefits and institutional effects of the Fed’s near-$9 trillion pandemic-era holdings and how those assets are used to implement policy.
- The review responds to years of inflation above target and rapid technological change, and its recommendations could change how the Fed measures the economy, uses real-time data, and evaluates AI’s effects on jobs.