The payment system is a communications industry in which Federal Reserve Banks, in their check collection activities, provide communication services. The history of government intervention in other communications industries offers lessons for the Fed in its efforts at payment system innovation....

The debt of the U.S. government is at historically high levels, but how do we know whether debt levels are worrisome? This Economic Brief argues that the current fiscal position is not sustainable. Though financial markets seem unconcerned, for the time being, about U.S. fiscal health, as...

It's proven fairly difficult to fine-tune the relationship between changes in inflation and changes in the path of real activity.

Federal government debt held by the public reached 67.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, and trends point to large budget deficits for many years to come. In this essay, economics writer Renee Haltom and research director John Weinberg explore the implications for monetary policy if...

Federal government debt held by the public reached 67.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 and trends point to large budget deficits for many years to come. In this essay, Renee Haltom and John Weinberg explore the implications for monetary policy if the United States ever approached its...

These essays reflect much of the thinking we have done, some of it well before the financial crisis, on the sources of financial instability and the means by which public policy can promote stability. A unifying theme is that government interventions that protect creditors weaken the market...