The Fed was in the news last week with a dramatic relaxation of monetary policy as official short term interest rates were cut by 0.75%. Gary Duncan has produced another of his regular briefings on aspects of monetary policy as part of the Times / Bank of England TwoPointZero competition. Today he looks at the differences in the handling of interest rate policy between the United States Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. One difference is that the Fed has a ‘dual mandate’ explained here

‘The key difference between the two central banks is their remits from government. While Britain’s MPC has one chief goal, to meet the 2 per cent inflation target set each year by the Chancellor, the Fed’s far broader brief, set in law by the US Congress, is to maintain stable prices while seeking to foster growth and maximise US employment. This is the Fed’s “dual mandate”.’

The rest of the article can be found here