|
A Letter from Dallas Fed President
Richard W. Fisher
January 2006
I’m pleased to announce
the launch of a new Dallas Fed publication, Economic
Letter. Written by our staff economists, Economic
Letter will provide timely commentary on the important
trends and policy issues shaping our rapidly globalizing,
increasingly interconnected economy.
The first issue, enclosed here,
analyzes why Japan has found it so difficult to break
out of a long period of stagnation. In upcoming months,
our economists will take up post-Greenspan monetary
policy and impediments to increasing world oil production.
We will not neglect the national
economy, but you will see in Economic Letter
a focus on the changes being wrought by globalization.
The topic is not fully understood. Freer cross-border
movement of goods, services, labor, money and ideas
raises new questions about how the economy operates.
Over the years, I have thought
a great deal about globalization—first as an investor,
then as a U.S. trade negotiator and now as Dallas Fed
president. It is an issue of vital importance, one that
is transforming the way Americans work, consume and
run businesses, as well as how we at the Federal Reserve
fulfill our mandate to create conditions for maximum
growth while containing inflation.
Does declining U.S. unemployment
still fuel inflation in a world of abundant production
capacity? Can cheap imports affect U.S. prices, either
directly through retail outlets or indirectly through
cheaper inputs for our producers? How do new economic
actors, taking advantage of revolutions in technology,
communications and transportation, impact our capacity
to expand employment? What does a world of porous borders
mean for traditional assumptions about the capacity
for non-inflationary growth in the United States, the
world’s biggest and most important economy?
In addition to Economic Letter,
we will soon introduce a series of occasional Staff
Papers, which will present scholarly work on a range
of globalization-related topics.
Southwest Economy will
continue to be published every other month. Each issue
will contain articles on the regional economy, including
Mexico and the border. We have modernized the publication's
design and added new features—a Q&A on economic
topics, a short Spotlight on key issues and a Noteworthy
page with interesting tidbits of information.
—Richard W. Fisher
|
