Econ Comments & Analysis
Wall Street Journal | Lost amid the fuss over the FOMC's latest public attempts at Greenspanisms (saying nothing while saying a lot about a little; "patience" vs. "considerable time" in this instance) was news of the latest attempt at establishing a rate floor. The ECB's rate floor has garnered a great deal of attention, of course, simply as a fact of its nominally negative rate - a world's first unleashed in June. The Federal Reserve would very much like to replicate that operative function, though not quite as yet as a negative rate.
The sharp drop in gasoline prices over the past few months is providing a rare political opening for state and federal officials who want to raise gasoline taxes to repair highways and boost construction jobs.
