Is a New Era in Monetary Policy upon Us?

The Greenspan era is coming to an end, and President Bush has nominated Dr. Ben Bernanke to become the next chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Will we see a new approach to monetary policy and, if so, what might be the consequences? What challenges will the new chairman face? Is inflation a problem? What are the plusses and minuses of inflation targeting? If the Fed decides to target inflation explicitly, what kind of flexibilities should be considered; also, what measure of inflation should it choose? How should the Fed become more transparent? In addition, the committee will discuss other important economic issues that may influence future monetary policy, including such topics as trade and exchange rate issues and fiscal policy.