Charles Plosser

A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. and continued on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.
PRESENT:
Mr. Bernanke, Chairman
Mr. Geithner, Vice Chairman
Ms. Duke
Mr. Fisher
Mr. Kohn
Mr. Kroszner
Ms. Pianalto
Mr. Plosser
Mr. Stern
Mr. Warsh

Ms. Cumming, Messrs. Evans, Lacker, and Lockhart, and Ms. Yellen, Alternate Members of the Federal Open Market Committee

Messrs. Bullard, Hoenig, and Rosengren, Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Boston, respectively

Mr. Madigan, Secretary and Economist
Ms. Danker, Deputy Secretary
Mr. Skidmore, Assistant Secretary
Ms. Smith, Assistant Secretary
Mr. Alvarez, General Counsel
Mr. Baxter, Deputy General Counsel
Mr. Sheets, Economist
Mr. Stockton, Economist


Messrs. Connors, English, and Kamin ...

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The city of Brotherly Love will open its arms to embrace Chilean culture from November 13 - 21 as Philadelphia celebrates the sights, sounds and flavors of Chile in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Chilean American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia (CACC). "Chile and Philadelphia have a long history in trade, as Philadelphia is the main port for Chilean fresh fruit exports into the United States. Sixty million cases of Chilean fruit comes through the Philadelphia region into the United States," said Ambassador Mariano Fernandez, of the Embassy of Chile in the United States. "This relationship has created thousands of jobs for Philadelphians." "For the past 20 years, Philadelphia has seen the growth of trade with Chile, with the many products brought into the U.S. through our city's ports, in large part thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Chilean and ...

The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 50 basis points to 1 percent.

The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures. Business equipment spending and industrial production have weakened in recent months, and slowing economic activity in many ...

The Federal Open Market Committee has decided to lower its target for the federal funds rate 50 basis points to 1-1/2 percent. The Committee took this action in light of evidence pointing to a weakening of economic activity and a reduction in inflationary pressures.

Incoming ...

The Manager of the System Open Market Account reported on recent developments in foreign exchange markets. There were no open market operations in foreign currencies for the System's account in the period since the previous meeting. The Manager also reported on developments in domestic financial markets and on System open market operations in government securities and federal agency obligations during the period since the previous meeting. By unanimous vote, the Committee ratified these transactions.

In light of severe stresses in dollar funding markets, the Committee considered a proposal intended to provide the flexibility necessary to respond promptly to requests from foreign central banks to engage in temporary reciprocal currency ("swap") arrangements to be used in supporting dollar liquidity in their jurisdictions. After the discussion, the Committee voted unanimously to authorize its Foreign Currency Subcommittee to direct the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as needed to expand existing swap ...