The global financial market turmoil that started in
August 2007 has been followed by a severe economic
downturn. Indeed, the U.S. economic recession is on
track to be the longest and deepest of the postwar
period.This Economic Letter describes the Federal
Reserve’s monetary policy response to this financial
and economic crisis.A key element of this response
has been a reduction of the federal funds rate—the
Fed’s usual monetary policy instrument—essentially
to its lower bound of zero. Still, with the economy
continuing to slump,additional stimulus appears warranted,
and the Federal Open Market Committee
(FOMC 2009) has promised to “employ all available
tools to promote economic recovery and to preserve
price stability.”Therefore, the Fed has eased financial
conditions by employing a variety of unconventional
monetary policy tools that alter the size and composition
of its balance sheet. It has also communicated
more explicitly its expectations for the course
of monetary policy and the economy in order to
help guide households and businesses during these
uncertain times.