Do Federal Reserve Communications Help Predict Federal Funds Target Rate Decisions?

We explain federal funds target rate decisions using macroeconomic variables and Federal Reserve communication indicators. Econometrically, we employ an ordered probit model of a Taylor rule to predict 75 target rate decisions between 1998 and 2006. We find, first, that our communication indicators...

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Veröffentlicht in:MAGKS - Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics (Band 25-2009)
Autoren: Hayo, Bernd, Neuenkirch, Matthias
Format: Arbeit
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Philipps-Universität Marburg 2009
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Zusammenfassung:We explain federal funds target rate decisions using macroeconomic variables and Federal Reserve communication indicators. Econometrically, we employ an ordered probit model of a Taylor rule to predict 75 target rate decisions between 1998 and 2006. We find, first, that our communication indicators significantly explain target rate decisions and improve explanatory power in and out of sample. Second, speeches by members of the Board of Governors and regional presidents have a statistically significant and equal-sized effect, whereas the lessfrequent monetary policy reports and congressional hearings are insignificant. Third, our findings are robust to variations in the specification, including changes in the communication strategy. Finally, our communication indicator based on Federal Reserve speeches performs better in explaining target rate decisions than do newswire reports of Fed communications.
Umfang:22 Seiten
ISSN:1867-3678
DOI:10.17192/es2024.0006