October 28 · Published December 11, 2003
Statement·Presser·Minutes
AGAlan GreenspanOctober 28, 2003 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes discussion is consistent with the statement because it explicitly confirms the FOMC's decision to maintain the federal funds rate target at 1 percent, and it details the same rationale: risks to sustainable growth are roughly balanced, the probability of an unwelcome fall in inflation exceeds that of a rise, and policy accommodation can be maintained for a considerable period.
Our reading compares the minutes of the October 28 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Ben S. Bernanke
- Susan S. Bies
- J. Alfred Broaddus, Jr.
- Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
- Edward M. Gramlich
- Alan Greenspan
- Jack Guynn
- Donald L. Kohn
- Michael H. Moskow
- Mark W. Olson
- Robert T. Parry
- Jamie B. Stewart, Jr.
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday, December 9, 2003.
The meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Vincent R. Reinhart
Secretary
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- Core consumer prices rose slightly in August and September, versus slightly less in August only.
- Average hourly earnings edged down in September, after ticking up in August.
- Longer-dated federal funds futures rates rose significantly before the October meeting.
- M2 contracted moderately in September after growing rapidly in July and August.
- The September meeting was held on September 16, 2003, not October 28 as the current minutes state.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.