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These are the best new articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources we have found to teach monetary policy. They bring economics to life by showing students real-life examples and current events.
 

News Articles

(Listed from most recent to oldest)

America’s prospective homebuyers absorb harsh reality: Mortgage rates probably aren’t coming down for a while | NBC News (Nov. 9, 2024)
Expectations of increased inflation are keeping mortgage rates high despite the Fed lowering its target federal funds rate by 25 bps in November.

Fed Governor Bowman explains dissent on rate vote, says she's worried about inflation | CNBC (Sept. 24, 2024)
Last week, Bowman filed the first dissent in a rate vote since 2005. She explains why she sees more risks to price stability than employment, and why she preferred a 25 bps decrease compared to the 50 bps.

Key takeaways from the Fed’s decision to deliver a jumbo-sized interest rate cut | CNN Business (Sept. 18, 2024)
The Fed cut interest rates by 50 bps on Wednesday, bringing rates down from historic highs. But the decisive move was not without controversy, with Bowman filing the first dissent by a Fed governor since 2005.

A home isn't the first thing Americans want when interest rates fall | Quartz (Sept. 4, 2024)
Americans are waiting to buy cars until interest rates go down.

Why Politics Must Stay Out of Monetary Policy  |  Monday Morning Economist (Aug. 12, 2024)
Trump recently stated that he wants the President to have a vote in the Fed’s rate setting decisions. Here’s an overview of why the Fed is structured to be politically independent, highlighting a few clashes between political leaders and central bank officials over the years.

Fed rate cuts loom large as US job market slows sharply | Reuters (Aug. 2, 2024)
Economic indicators made headlines last week as the Fed signaled possible rate cuts in September, and the July jobs report showed an increase in the unemployment rate from 4.1% to 4.3%. This article includes some helpful graphs and a concise explanation of the Sahm rule.

Why The Fed's Balance Sheet Announcement Is Crucial For Consumers To Know | Bankrate (May 2, 2024)
Dig into the effects of the Fed’s plans to unwind their balance sheet–its effect on the money supply, long-term interest rates, and the repo market.

Federal Reserve says interest rates will stay at two-decade high until inflation further cools | AP News (May 1, 2024)
The Fed indicated it will hold rates steady until it is more confident that inflation is slowing to 2%. The Fed will also slow the pace of unwinding its balance sheet beginning in June.

Swiss National Bank Unexpectedly Cuts Rates in First for Advanced Economy — Update | Morningstar (March 21, 2024)
The Swiss National Bank unexpectedly cut rates by 25 basis points, ahead of similar cuts expected by the ECB and Fed, and stated that "the fight against inflation over the past two-and-a-half years has been effective." Meanwhile, Brazil's central bank lowered rates for the 6th time.

Bank of Japan scraps radical policy, makes first rate hike in 17 years | Reuters (Mar 19, 2024)
The Bank of Japan raised its target interest rate for the first time in 17 years and ended an 8-year experiment with negative interest rates. The move comes as Japan's inflation rate has remained above 2% for over a year and unions negotiated large wage hikes for workers.

Americans spent more than $1.1 trillion on interest payments alone last quarter | Quartz (March 5, 2024)
Consumers are feeling the impact of the Fed’s rate hikes as credit card interest payments increase while fixed-rate mortgages are blunting the impact of rate increases on many mortgages.

Turkey's new central bank chief assures that work to combat inflation will press on | Yahoo Finance (Feb. 8, 2024)
Turkey’s sixth central bank head in 5 years plans to continue hiking interest rates, currently at 45%, to combat 65% inflation. The plan is widely accepted by investors and considered a rejection of Turkish President Erdogan's insistence that lower interest rates ease inflation.

Powell Goes off script and reduces flexibility | Advisor Perspectives (Feb. 2, 2024)
Jerome Powell went off-script Wednesday to say that a March rate cut was unlikely, guidance that was not indicated in the Federal Reserve's published statement. This article presents an opportunity to consider Fedspeak.

Argentina’s New President Wants to Adopt the U.S. Dollar as the National Currency | MSN News (Nov. 20, 2023)
With inflation above 140%, Javier Milei won the Argentine election on a platform to eliminate the peso and switch to dollars. Here's a primer on what's required to dollarize, how dollarization outsources monetary policy, and a quick look at what dollarization in other countries has looked like.

The forgotten rescue plan that could prevent another SVB-like collapse | CNN Business (March 15, 2023)
Here’s a basic overview of the Fed’s new Bank Term Lending Program–what it is, what it does, and how it’s the opposite of quantitative tightening.

Graphics

M1 Chart | FRED

M2 Chart | FRED

Monetary Base Chart | FRED

Global inflation and interest rates tracker: see how your country compares | Financial Times
This inflation and interest rate tracker is regularly updated so you can compare inflation rates and policy rate decisions of different countries anytime during the school year. Did you know that teachers can get free access to the Financial Times by signing up here?

Videos

Monetary Policy Video Series | EconLowDown

Jamaican bank’s reggae song about inflation | Bank of Jamaica
If you haven’t watched this yet, you should! The Bank of Jamaica created a Reggae music video about the importance of keeping inflation low.

How the Fed Worked: Before the Great Recession and After the Great Recession | MRU
Help students visualize the impact of various monetary instruments on the economy. STL Fed has a great Page One on this topic as well! We need to teach how the Fed actually engages in monetary policy today, rather than what they used to do historically!

Zimbabwe and Hyperinflation: Who Wants to Be a Trillionaire? | MRU
How does hyperinflation happen? Examine the case of Zimbabwe in more detail.

Demonetization in India | MRU
India conducted a demonetization experiment in 2016. This is how the story ended.
Resource: Assignment

What gives a dollar bill its value? | TedEd
A great short video on the Fed, money supply, and inflation.

How to manage inflation in video games | Extra Credits
An old video but relevant for students who want to be video game designers. It turns out how the money supply is managed is absolutely crucial to a game’s success.

Podcasts

How the Fed got so powerful | NPR
The Fed has deployed new and expanded tools in 2008 and again during the pandemic.

How rising interest rates affect your day to day | NPR
This podcast explains the effect of the rising interest rates and provides recommendations on how to handle it.

Jerome Powell’s Ghosts | The Indicator
This podcast covers the June 2022 rate hike and examines previous episodes from the past that influenced Chairman Powell’s decisions. Good for understanding the people behind monetary policy and what drives them.

It’s Called the Bond Taper. Yes, It’s Geeky. But This Is Why You Should Know About It | NPR (August 23, 2021)
Looking for a way to explain bond tapering that’s simple? The Fed’s purchasing of bonds is equated to parents giving kids too much candy.

A conversation with Janet Yellen | The Indicator
Learn about the Fed’s role from an expert. She reminds us that an important role of the Fed is to serve as a safety net, so even if certain programs aren’t used very often, the very existence of those programs bolsters confidence in the economy. And here’s a video about her extraordinary contributions to economics.

What The Fed can learn from the Soviets’ tiny, useless nail problem | Marketplace
“You get what you measure.” Is inflation still a useful measure of economic health? What other metrics could be informative?

Additional Resources

Monetary Policy Unit Plan | MRU
Check out our new monetary policy unit plan with 5 class periods of lesson plans and 2 new interactive practice tools to supercharge your classroom.

Dual Mandate Interactive Practice | MRU
How does a change in the administered rate filter out through the rest of the economy? In this interactive, see how the Fed hopes to influence the economy in theory through an interest rate change. Real-life cases are then shown to emphasize the difference between theory and reality.

Market for Reserves Interactive Practice | MRU
Use the reserve market model to understand how the Federal Reserve can influence the Fed Funds Rate in the limited reserve environment.

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