At the New York Fed, our mission is to make the U.S. economy stronger and the financial system more stable for all segments of society. We do this by executing monetary policy, providing financial services, supervising banks and conducting research and providing expertise on issues that impact the nation and communities we serve.
The New York Fed recently published The Story of Monetary Policy, the third issue of its new Educational Comic Book Series. In the story, intrepid characters travel to previously unseen worlds, meeting new friends and teaching economic lessons along the way. Today, we offer a behind-the-frames look at the comic book’s production — from idea to sketch to print — and the creation of a world “way, way out at the edge of the universe” to educate students about economics and monetary policy.
During a press conference following last week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed out that the Fed has made “consequential decisions” about its balance sheet in recent months, including to maintain its current framework for implementing monetary policy and to slow the pace at which it allows maturing securities to run off. A speech last month by New York Fed senior vice president Lorie Logan provides helpful context around questions about balance sheet normalization and how the Fed could implement monetary policy going forward in light of these decisions by the FOMC.
“Way, way out — at the edge of the universe — there’s a little planet called Novus.” So began the New York Fed’s return to publishing comic books to promote economic literacy, especially among students from middle school through college.
At a conference at the New York Fed on April 12, EVP Kevin Stiroh discussed the issue of cybersecurity from the perspective of a bank supervisor. He noted that cybersecurity is one of many aspects of operational resiliency for firms:
On Thursday, April 11, New York Fed President John Williams spoke at the annual conference of the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development. He discussed the challenges of inequitable growth and his vision for the New York Fed’s community development work.
The New York Fed today released the 2018 annual report of the System Open Market Account (SOMA). Issued to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) for much of the Fed’s history, this report provides a review of open market operations conducted by the Open Market Trading Desk (the Desk), other developments that influenced the Fed’s portfolio of domestic securities, and developments in the Fed’s foreign operations. The SOMA represents the largest asset on the Fed’s balance sheet.
Since the release of the three-volume book Investing in America’s Workforce: Improving Outcomes for Workers and Employers last year, the Federal Reserve System and its community and business partners have continued to engage communities and workforce stakeholders on the research and promising practices highlighted in the publication. (For a refresh of the main topics the book covers, see this post from Carl E. Van Horn, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Director of John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.)
At a risk-management conference this morning, New York Fed Executive Vice President and General Counsel Michael Held discussed financial crime and the payment system. The official sector and the financial industry have a shared goal in preventing the former and protecting the latter.
New York Fed Executive Vice President Kevin Stiroh, who heads the Supervision Group, spoke about corporate culture in the finance industry at a recent conference. He identified misconduct risk — or the potential for behaviors or business practices that are illegal, unethical, or contrary to a firm’s stated beliefs, values, policies, and procedures — as a major consideration for firms when it comes to risk management.
In a speech last week, New York Fed Executive Vice President and General Counsel Michael Held discussed the transition away from the widely used reference rate known as the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). In his remarks, he described LIBOR’s weaknesses, the threats posed by the fact that it could soon disappear, and the urgent work under way to transition to alternative reference rates, including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).
