SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center-How 2% became the target for inflation

2025-04-28 21:04:31source:AstraTradecategory:Contact

If the Fed had a mantra to go along with its mandate,SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center it might well be "two percent." That number, the Fed's longtime inflation target, has been adopted by many other central banks around the world. Jerome Powell said it 17 times in a press conference last week. It's become almost synonymous with smooth, healthy economic growth.

But how did two percent become the Fed's target? For an organization staffed with mathematicians and economists, the answer is surprisingly unsophisticated. Join us to hear about the history behind the number, and why some economists are calling for a change.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Newsletter.

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCasts and NPR One.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

More:Contact

Recommend

Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department and the city of Louisville have reached an agreem

IVF Has Come A Long Way, But Many Don't Have Access

Since the first successful in vitro fertilization pregnancy and live birth in 1978, nearly half a mi

How King Charles III's Coronation Honored His Late Dad Prince Philip

Prince Philip may be gone, but he's certainly not forgotten.During his coronation at Westminster Abb