federal reserve

The dean of Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis says while the Fed’s rate hike was widely anticipated, he would have liked to see the Fed hold off until President-elect Trump’s inauguration.

Financial markets worldwide have become increasingly volatile in 2016. Olin Business School financial economics expert Jennifer Dlugosz looks into some reasons why and examines what’s next.

​While the economy has rebounded, the recent market upheaval in China, and the resulting ripple effects felt globally, raised concerns. The Fed’s decision to hold rates steady buys more time to gauge global markets’ strength, and possible volatility, should a rate hike be put into place in the near future.

Two prominent economists made headlines last week in visits to the Olin Business School when they shared their views on the economy and its recovery from the “Great Recession.” Former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker and St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president and CEO James Bullard, PhD, offered different perspectives on jobs, financial reform and the global economy. One dared to suggest the need for increased taxes in the near future; one said the current crisis in Greece could slow the U.S. recovery.

Experts from the St. Louis Federal Reserve and around the country will be on the Washington University campus Friday, Feb. 5, to discuss the Federal Reserve’s role during the recent recession and future directions for policy. The free public conference, “Monetary Policy Amid Economic Turbulence,” begins at 2:30 p.m. in the Bryan Cave Moot Court Room, Anheuser-Busch Hall.

PooleIn a wide-ranging analysis of bond market fundamentals, St. Louis Fed President William Poole said the focus should be on long-term interest rate basics. “Longer-run fundamentals tend to get lost in a welter of short-run considerations that fade into oblivion quickly as a new set of short-run concerns dominate the news,” he said. Poole spoke to a group of financial analysts at Washington University’s Olin School of Business on”Prospects and Risks in the Bond Market,” Sept. 4.

FergusonRoger W. Ferguson, Jr., Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, gave the commencement address to M.B.A. and Ph.D. graduates of the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis on May 16. Dr. Ferguson became a Member of the Board of Governors in 1997 to fill an unexpired term and was reappointed in 2001 to a full term ending in 2014. The complete text of his commencement address to the Olin School of Business is available from the Federal Reserve System.