Monday, December 12, 2005

Vocabulary change for the Fed?

At long last, a Fed meeting to get excited about.

OK, maybe that's a bit extreme but seriously, tomorrow's meeting of the FOMC is the first in a long time that might be a little bit different. Sure, they're going to give rates a 25bp bump, just like the last twelve meetings, but it's the vocabulary that the media will be yammering about tomorrow afternoon. Will the words "accommodative" and "measured" be part of the policy statement?

Many analysts believe that, starting Tuesday, interest rate policy will no longer be referred to as "accommodative", signaling an approaching end to the tightening cycle. Then, after Alan Greenspan's final meeting on January 31st, the phrase "measured pace" will be lifted.

Gosh, the suspense is killing me.

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