Jerome Powell, Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), said on the 28th (local time), "One of the goals we had when my colleagues and I released our economic and interest rate outlook was to influence consumption and investment decisions in the current and coming months."
Chair Powell held a town hall meeting with teachers in Washington, DC, saying, "For such an influence to be possible, people need to understand what we are saying and what it means for their personal financial situations." He added, "Some of the Fed's influence on the economy comes from affecting how the general public views the economy."
No direct remarks related to monetary policy were made during the event.
However, he emphasized the importance of economic education, stating, "Economic education not only provides students with the opportunity to manage their personal finances and broaden their career choices but also offers the knowledge necessary to understand macroeconomics, including the implications of Fed policy decisions."
When asked about the gap between economics textbooks and the realities of monetary policy, he expressed the view that "revisions will be necessary before innovations in monetary policy, such as quantitative easing (QE) and forward guidance, are reflected in all textbooks." He also pointed out that the Fed has not conducted monetary policy through reserve requirement adjustments for a long time, and many textbooks fail to reflect this.
In response to a question about what he does in his leisure time, he said, "I read books on topics that build background knowledge, such as artificial intelligence (AI)."
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