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Journal Article
The regional impact of health care reform - with a focus on New England
The United States has begun the huge task of reforming its health care system and many individuals have already begun to consider the likely impact of health care reform on their state's economy. Given the momentum of change in the private sector and at the state level, the U.S. health care system will never be the same again, with or without federal legislation. Because New England is the U.S. region most dependent on employment in health care services, concerns about the impact of health care reform are particularly acute in this area. ; Accordingly, this article presents a preliminary ...
Journal Article
Canada's approach to monetary policy
The ultimate goal of Canadian monetary policy is maintaining a low, stable rate of inflation in order to foster efficient economic performance and a rising standard of living for Canadians. More specifically, the Bank of Canada aims to keep inflation inside a target range of 1 to 3 percent. This range, established jointly with the federal government, was first announced in 1991 and has been extended through the end of 2006. Over the medium term, the target applies to total CPI. The Bank also uses a core CPI measure as a guide to future inflation developments over the shorter term. The Bank of ...
Journal Article
Sweden's approach to monetary policy
The Sveriges Riksbank, the Swedish central bank, is an authority under the Riksdag (parliament) with responsibility for monetary policy. Its objectives are to maintain price stability and to promote a safe and efficient payment system. With the advent of the new regime, which went into effect in January 1999, the Riksdag appoints the Riksbank's Governing Council, which, in turn, appoints its Executive Board, including its Chairman, who serves as Governor of the Riksbank. A member of the Executive Board may not be a member of the Riksdag, a government minister, or an employee of the Government ...
Journal Article
U.S. monetary policy in an integrating world: 1960 to 2000
This article examines the impact of global developments on the practice of U.S. monetary policy, broadly defined to include regulatory and lender-of-last-resort functions as well as open market, discount, and intervention activity, over the past forty years. It is part of a paper presented at the forty-fifth economic conference of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The authors briefly review a few familiar facts establishing the increased openness of the U.S. economy, and go on to explore episodes when external events beyond those included in the domestic outlook-events like significant ...
Journal Article
U.S. regional trade with Canada during the transition to free trade
This article examines the U.S. and Canadian responses to the early years of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement from a U.S. regional perspective. It draws on a highly detailed data base from Statistics Canada. Although the article discusses which regions enjoyed the fastest growth in trade with Canada over this period, and why, the major focus of the study is the impact of increased integration on the nature of trade and investment flows between the two countries. The author explores, for example, whether trade has expanded on the basis of comparative resource endowments or has taken the ...
Journal Article
Lessons from variations in state Medicaid expenditures
Because Medicaid is absorbing a large and growing share of government spending in every state, policymakers are under intense pressure to control the cost of this budget-breaking program. In search of clues concerning Medicaid cost containment, this article examines state data on per-recipient Medicaid spending by type of service. This effort suggests focusing on nursing homes, because per-recipient payments to these institutions are highly variable across states. Indeed, the article concludes that a key explanation for cross-state differences in per-recipient Medicaid expenses is the ...
Discussion Paper
Oil and the macroeconomy in a changing world: a conference summary
Analysis of oil-price movements is once again an important feature of economic policy discussions. To provide some background for this analysis, this paper summarizes a conference on the oil market held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in June 2010. Four cross-cutting themes emerged from this symposium, which included scientific experts, market participants, business leaders, academics, and policymakers. First, the decline in real oil prices that followed the 1970s' oil shocks is unlikely to be repeated today, because there are fewer ways in which oil-importing countries can reduce oil ...
Journal Article
Perspective: outsourcing jobs overseas: a cause for concern?
A rash of media stories has heightened concern about foreign outsourcing of U. S. jobs. But analyses show that many of these reports may have exaggerated the extent and economic impact of jobs moving overseas.