March 20
Statement·Presser·Minutes
AGAlan GreenspanMarch 20, 2001 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes read somewhat more dovish relative to the statement because they reveal the internal debate and the range of opinions among members, including a few who preferred a larger 75 basis point cut, and they explicitly acknowledge that even after the 50 basis point reduction, the risks to the economy would remain "decidedly to the downside."
Our reading compares the minutes of the March 20 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
- Edward M. Gramlich
- Alan Greenspan
- Thomas M. Hoenig
- Edward W. Kelley, Jr.
- William J. McDonough
- Laurence H. Meyer
- Cathy E. Minehan
- Michael H. Moskow
- William Poole
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
Votes against this action: None.
Chairman Greenspan indicated that shortly after this meeting the Board of Governors would consider pending requests of eight Federal Reserve Banks to reduce the discount rate by 50 basis points.
Donald L. Kohn
Secretary
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- The dollar's trade-weighted value changed little, with losses against the euro offset by gains against the yen and other trading partners.
- The broad monetary aggregates accelerated sharply in December and strengthened further in January.
- The FOMC voted unanimously to reduce the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 5 percent, with no dissents.
- The balance of risks sentence remained tilted toward economic weakness, and a 75 basis point cut was preferred by a few members.
- A telephone conference on April 11, 2001, considered further easing, but no action was taken then.
- The discount rate was reduced by 50 basis points following the meeting, as proposed by all Federal Reserve Banks.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.