The Federal Reserve Is Not Very Constrained by the Lower Bound on Nominal Interest Rates
I survey the literature on monetary policy at the zero lower bound (ZLB) and effective lower bound (ELB) to make three main points: First, the Federal Reserve’s forward guidance and large-scale asset purchases are effective monetary policy tools at the Z/ELB. Second, during the 2008–15 U.S. ZLB period, the Fed was not very constrained in its ability to influence medium- and longer-term interest rates and the economy. Third, the risks of the Fed being significantly constrained by the ELB in the future are typically greatly overstated. I conclude that the Federal Reserve is not very constrained by the lower bound on nominal interest rates.
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Copy CitationEric T. Swanson, "The Federal Reserve Is Not Very Constrained by the Lower Bound on Nominal Interest Rates," NBER Working Paper 25123 (2018), https://doi.org/10.3386/w25123.
Published Versions
Eric T. Swanson, 2018. "The Federal Reserve Is Not Very Constrained by the Lower Bound on Nominal Interest Rates," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, vol 2018(2), pages 555-572. citation courtesy of 
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