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> We began this public review in early 2019 to assess the monetary policy strategy, tools, and communications that would best foster achievement of our congress

> We began this public review in early 2019 to assess the monetary policy strategy, tools, and communications that would best foster achievement of our congressionally assigned goals of maximum employment and price stability over the years ahead in service to the American people. As an American who knows nothing about monitor policy or the process by which it is developed, just how much public comment from an average American was considered or even put forward? Could someone comment on that aspect?

shdc 6y ago
That sentence scored 27 on the 'Gunning Fog Scale Level'. Anything above 20 is considered "very difficult" to understand. Based on this, i think one of the main issues is the 'average american' wouldn't be able to successfully interact with a body that expresses itself in such an obfuscated manner. I'll go as far as saying the obfuscation is utterly deliberate.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
  We're talking about the Federal Reserve, not McDonald's. Given the far-reaching repercussions of their policies, it makes absolute sense that they would be extremely explicit in their grammar. While they use big words and it's a long sentence, nothing there is obfuscated.
  - shdc 6y ago
    The premise of your argument is that explicitness comes at the expense of additional complexity. I believe this premise may be flawed. Let's rewrite it from: > We began this public review in early 2019 to assess the monetary policy strategy, tools, and communications that would best foster achievement of our congressionally assigned goals of maximum employment and price stability over the years ahead in service to the American people. To: """ We began this public review in early 2019. The goal was to assess items relating to monetary policy ("Monetary Policy" has to do with the creation and management of money at a national level). Those monetary policy items under review were the: - strategy. - tools. - communications. The goals of the policy review, which were assigned by congress, were: - maximum employment. - price stability going forward, for years to come, in service to the American people. """ I believe nothing has been lost from the original text, and that this is far easier to read and understand.
    - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
      Who do you think the target audience is? You seem to think that the target audience should be people on HN, or people who read less well even than us. That's not the actual audience. It's bankers.
    - psds2 6y ago
      Your version lost the congressional mandate. Took a bit to notice too since it's so wordy.
  - charwalker 6y ago
    Yeah this is nothing compared to an intro to econometrics textbook. It's not written for laymen to intake but to be processed by experts and commented on from there. It's important it's specific and precise language, not concise.
- hogFeast 6y ago
  Much of monetary policy theory today is premised on the notion that central bankers are very good at communicating their intentions to markets. ...as you have found, this is not true.
ttul 6y ago
“Fed Listens An important pillar of the review was the Fed Listens initiative. Fourteen Fed Listens events held around the country in 2019 engaged a wide range of organizations—employee groups and union members, small business owners, residents of low- and moderate-income communities, workforce development organizations and community colleges, retirees, and others—to hear about how monetary policy affects peoples’ daily lives and livelihoods. A fifteenth event was held in May 2020 to hear about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities around the United States. These events provided valuable feedback on monetary policy. Information about each of the events is provided below. The box on the right contains links to a report on the Fed Listens initiative and to one of the events, a flagship research conference held in June 2019.” You can google for the link.
beachbau 6y ago
I think hacker news users tend to be cynical of the federal reserve and the mechanism of zero interest rate and the apparent money printing. For this catastrophic event however, Federal response has been pretty appropriate. 1.) in consideration of American citizens whose vast majority have student loan, credit card loan, or home loan, and was suffering from them, the zeroing of interest is appropriate here. (Also the administration’s postponement of loan repayment) And the Main Street was crying for it. That means the fed did listen to the American people. Folks have to remember that a lot of industries were decimated here. 2.) in the face of attacks from COVID - and in a sense the Chinese government, with their withholding policies on the deadliness of the virus, withholding of masks and medical supplies, and some Scientific theories say, the actual Manufacturing of the virus. And also attacks from the US internal unrests and rioting - and in some ways, attacks from democratic mayors and governors against the president, in letting the protests go unabated - the response from fed has been very appropriate. And even if the majority of the American people didn’t notice the attacks and voiced it, the federal reserve surely did
- aniro 6y ago
  This comment is highly partisan and full of speculative opinion with very little (or zero) evidence to support such wild claims.
  - pdelbarba 6y ago
    Yea, this one goes from 0 to 100 real quick. The first half is a valid-ish argument, then the second is just an exponentially growing web of conspiracy theories...

shdc 6y ago

That sentence scored 27 on the 'Gunning Fog Scale Level'. Anything above 20 is considered "very difficult" to understand. Based on this, i think one of the main issues is the 'average american' wouldn't be able to successfully interact with a body that expresses itself in such an obfuscated manner. I'll go as far as saying the obfuscation is utterly deliberate.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
We're talking about the Federal Reserve, not McDonald's. Given the far-reaching repercussions of their policies, it makes absolute sense that they would be extremely explicit in their grammar. While they use big words and it's a long sentence, nothing there is obfuscated.
- shdc 6y ago
  The premise of your argument is that explicitness comes at the expense of additional complexity. I believe this premise may be flawed. Let's rewrite it from: > We began this public review in early 2019 to assess the monetary policy strategy, tools, and communications that would best foster achievement of our congressionally assigned goals of maximum employment and price stability over the years ahead in service to the American people. To: """ We began this public review in early 2019. The goal was to assess items relating to monetary policy ("Monetary Policy" has to do with the creation and management of money at a national level). Those monetary policy items under review were the: - strategy. - tools. - communications. The goals of the policy review, which were assigned by congress, were: - maximum employment. - price stability going forward, for years to come, in service to the American people. """ I believe nothing has been lost from the original text, and that this is far easier to read and understand.
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    Who do you think the target audience is? You seem to think that the target audience should be people on HN, or people who read less well even than us. That's not the actual audience. It's bankers.
  - psds2 6y ago
    Your version lost the congressional mandate. Took a bit to notice too since it's so wordy.
- charwalker 6y ago
  Yeah this is nothing compared to an intro to econometrics textbook. It's not written for laymen to intake but to be processed by experts and commented on from there. It's important it's specific and precise language, not concise.
hogFeast 6y ago
Much of monetary policy theory today is premised on the notion that central bankers are very good at communicating their intentions to markets. ...as you have found, this is not true.

ttul 6y ago

“Fed Listens An important pillar of the review was the Fed Listens initiative. Fourteen Fed Listens events held around the country in 2019 engaged a wide range of organizations—employee groups and union members, small business owners, residents of low- and moderate-income communities, workforce development organizations and community colleges, retirees, and others—to hear about how monetary policy affects peoples’ daily lives and livelihoods. A fifteenth event was held in May 2020 to hear about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities around the United States. These events provided valuable feedback on monetary policy. Information about each of the events is provided below. The box on the right contains links to a report on the Fed Listens initiative and to one of the events, a flagship research conference held in June 2019.” You can google for the link.

beachbau 6y ago

I think hacker news users tend to be cynical of the federal reserve and the mechanism of zero interest rate and the apparent money printing. For this catastrophic event however, Federal response has been pretty appropriate. 1.) in consideration of American citizens whose vast majority have student loan, credit card loan, or home loan, and was suffering from them, the zeroing of interest is appropriate here. (Also the administration’s postponement of loan repayment) And the Main Street was crying for it. That means the fed did listen to the American people. Folks have to remember that a lot of industries were decimated here. 2.) in the face of attacks from COVID - and in a sense the Chinese government, with their withholding policies on the deadliness of the virus, withholding of masks and medical supplies, and some Scientific theories say, the actual Manufacturing of the virus. And also attacks from the US internal unrests and rioting - and in some ways, attacks from democratic mayors and governors against the president, in letting the protests go unabated - the response from fed has been very appropriate. And even if the majority of the American people didn’t notice the attacks and voiced it, the federal reserve surely did

aniro 6y ago
This comment is highly partisan and full of speculative opinion with very little (or zero) evidence to support such wild claims.
- pdelbarba 6y ago
  Yea, this one goes from 0 to 100 real quick. The first half is a valid-ish argument, then the second is just an exponentially growing web of conspiracy theories...