August 24 · Published October 7, 1999
Statement·Presser·Minutes
AGAlan GreenspanAugust 24, 1999 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes read somewhat more dovish relative to the statement because they emphasize the FOMC's view that the rate hike, combined with prior tightening and market expectations, would likely suffice to contain inflation, and they explicitly note that most members did not anticipate further tightening in the near term, allowing time to assess incoming data.
Our reading compares the minutes of the August 24 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Boehne
- Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
- Edward M. Gramlich
- Alan Greenspan
- Edward W. Kelley, Jr.
- William J. McDonough
- Robert D. McTeer, Jr. ↓ dissented
- Mr. McTeer dissented for essentially the same reasons he did at the June 30 meeting: low inflation and, except for energy, minimal inflation in the pipeline. He believes that positive supply-side forces will continue to damp the impact of strong demand on output prices and that productivity gains will continue to damp the effect of higher wages on unit labor costs.
- Meyers
- Michael H. Moskow
- Stern
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
Donald L. Kohn
Secretary
Footnotes
1 Attended portion of meeting relating to issues pertaining to year-end operations.
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- Federal funds rate target raised from around 5 percent to around 5-1/4 percent.
- Directive remained symmetrical, with all supporting members favoring retention.
- Mr. McTeer again dissented, citing low inflation and minimal pipeline inflation.
- Subcommittee formed to review directive wording and post-meeting announcements.
- Next meeting scheduled for October 5, 1999, instead of August 24.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.