US Fed rejected formal targets

The Federal Reserve discussed and, for now, rejected the idea of adopting formal targets for growth, unemployment and inflation at a meeting earlier this month, minutes showed Tuesday. An account of the meeting showed members of the Fed's top policymaking panel wrestling with a series of seemingly imperfect or unpredictable new policy options, with little consensus on benefits and risks. The measures included setting an explicit inflation or growth objective, or keeping interest rates at certain levels until unemployment or inflation targets were met. Each measure which would amount to a small revolution in the way the central bank works and could have a broad impact on the economy. The Federal Open Market Committee used staff models as guidance about the possible impact of each of the measures. In the end, Fed members appeared to bat down each option in favor of looking at ways the central bank could better communicate its long term strategy. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the body should "give consideration to a possible statement of the committee's longer-run goals and policy strategy," the minutes said. Bernanke also encouraged further study of ways of incorporating ideas about future policy into economic projections.