Teaching the New Tools of Monetary Policy
The Federal Reserve has changed the way it implements monetary policy. For example, the Fed’s new tools include interest on reserves and the overnight reverse repurchase agreement facility. But many of the recent changes are not reflected in resources for teaching monetary policy to college and high school students.
This webpage is intended to provide educators with articles and guided reading activities they may leverage as they transition to teaching the Fed's monetary policy tools in an ample-reserves framework.
Classroom Resources
How Does the Fed Use Its Monetary Policy Tools to Influence the Economy? Page One Economics, May, 2022.
How Fed Policy Transmits to the Economy, Classroom Activity.
How the Federal Reserve Implements Monetary Policy, Lecture Guide.
Monetary Policy, The Economic Lowdown Video Series.
The Fed's New Monetary Policy Tools, Econ Lowdown Online Module.
Timeline: Federal Reserve Monetary Policy, FRASER website.
Articles
Closing the Curriculum Gap by Updating Content Standards and Guidelines for Teaching Monetary Policy, The American Economist, March 2022. By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Closing the Monetary Policy Curriculum Gap: A Primer for Educators Making the Transition to Teaching the Fed's Ample-Reserves Framework (2020). FEDS Notes, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Fixing the “Curriculum Lag” in Economics: The New Tools the Fed is Using to Influence the Economy. This article was published in Social Education (March-April 2020). Social Education is the official journal of the National Council for the Social Studies (www.socialstudies.org). By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Let’s close the gap: Revising Teaching Materials to Reflect How the Federal Reserve Implements Monetary Policy (2020). Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Let’s close the gap: Updating the Textbook Treatment of Monetary Policy (May 2022). The Journal of Economic Education. By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Making Technical Adjustments: The Difference Between “Conducting” and “Implementing” Monetary Policy, Economic Synopses, August 2021. By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Teaching Monetary Policy with Ample Reserves (March 2023, open access). Journal of Economics Teaching. By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Teaching the Linkage Between Banks and the Fed: R.I.P. Money Multiplier, Page One Economics, September 2021. By Jane Ihrig, Gretchen Weinbach, and Scott Wolla.
The Fed’s “Ample Reserves” Approach to Implementing Monetary Policy (2020). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. By Jane Ihrig, Zeynep Senyuz, and Gretchen Weinbach.
The Fed’s New Monetary Policy Tools. Page One Economics®, August, 2020 (revised August 2021). By Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla.
Blog Posts
Fixing the Textbook Lag with FRED: Monetary Policy in a World of Ample Reserves (Part I), Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The FRED Blog, June 10, 2019.
Fixing the Textbook Lag with FRED: Monetary Policy in a World of Ample Reserves (Part II), Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The FRED Blog, June 13, 2019.
How Does the Fed Influence Interest Rates Using Its New Tools? Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Open Vault blog, August 5, 2020.
Monetary policy tools today: Paying interest on all those reserves, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The FRED Blog, June 18, 2020.
Referring to the Interest Paid on Reserves, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The FRED Blog, May 12, 2022.
Visualizing the Fed’s new monetary policy tools, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The FRED Blog, February 22, 2021.
Webinars and Recorded Presentations
How the Federal Reserve Implements Monetary Policy, lecture, recorded November, 2021.
Monetary Policy and Interest on Reserves, a short video that describes the use of the interest rate on bank reserves as a tool of monetary policy.
Teaching about New Monetary Policy Tools, Timely Topics Podcast Series, August, 2021.
Teaching the New Tools of Monetary Policy, webinar presentation recorded August, 2021.
The Tools of Monetary Policy Have Changed. Has Your Instruction? webinar presentation recorded August, 2022.
Digital Badge Programs
An Educator’s Guide to Monetary Policy
A Citizen’s Guide to Monetary Policy
Additional Resources
AP Macro gets a makeover, Planet Money interviews Jane Ihrig and Scott Wolla, August, 2022.
In Plain English - Making Sense of the Federal Reserve
