August 21
Statement·Presser·Minutes
AGAlan GreenspanAugust 21, 2001 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes read more dovish than the statement because they reveal the FOMC's internal deliberations and actions—such as establishing emergency swap lines, discussing the need for "some policy easing," and voting to cut rates by 50 basis points on September 17—which underscore a deeper concern about economic weakness and financial instability than the statement's more measured language suggests.
Our reading compares the minutes of the August 21 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 for this action: Messrs. Greenspan, McDonough, Ferguson, Gramlich, Hoenig, Kelley, Meyer, Ms. Minehan, Messrs. Moskow and Poole.
Votes against this action: None.
Donald L. Kohn
Secretary
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- The federal funds rate target was reduced from 3.75 percent to 3 percent.
- The vote on the policy action was unanimous, with no dissents recorded.
- Swap arrangements were established with the European Central Bank, Bank of Canada, and Bank of England.
- The European Central Bank swap line was set at $50 billion, with an initial drawing of up to $12 billion.
- The Bank of Canada swap line was increased from $2 billion to $10 billion.
- The Bank of England swap line was established at $30 billion.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.