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Journal Article
Research Spotlight: Tracking Inflation with Relative Price Changes
The Federal Reserve has operated under an inflation-targeting framework since the mid-1990s (at first implicitly and then explicitly) with successful results in maintaining price stability. Yet even when inflation is generally stable around its target rate, it still fluctuates from month to month. One source of those fluctuations is large shocks to supply and demand for particular goods or services. For example, a disruption in the oil market can cause a spike in gasoline prices and lift the overall inflation rate, even if prices in most other categories remain stable. Conversely, a shock ...
Briefing
FedNow and the Development of U.S. Fast Payments
FedNow is a real-time payment service launched by the Federal Reserve in July 2023 that has grown to over 1,700 participating financial institutions. It competes with Real-Time Payments (RTP), a private system launched in 2017.While FedNow and RTP have developed significantly, both systems lag international counterparts in transaction volume, primarily because Americans already have extensive access to digital payments and "instant-feel" alternatives.Despite entering a crowded market, FedNow has the long-term potential to become a core national infrastructure as the U.S. payments system ...