Macro & policy

The economic
backdrop.

Understand the measures, institutions and expectations that shape the monetary-policy conversation.

Start here

Build the foundation.

01

Inflation & the price level

Why slower inflation does not necessarily mean lower prices.

Explore 02

Nominal & real

Separate a quoted return from its purchasing-power meaning.

Explore 03

The inflation experiment

Change two annual rates and watch the price level.

Explore

Explore the detail

From the journal.

Inflation & policy

PCE and CPI: two gauges, different questions.

Why the inflation measure in the policy target and the one dominating the headlines are not always the same.

Read the explainer

The reading list

A reading list for central-bank communication.

Three books featured in the channel, approaching monetary policy through people, institutions and tools.

Read the explainer

Explore the institutions and evidence.

Policy

Central banks

Read eight policy frameworks side by side.

Statistics

The data desk

Know what each observation measures.

Prices

Inflation basket

Follow the contribution of each component.

Follow the mechanism into history.

POLICY REGIMES

The Swiss franc / January 2015

The end of the EUR/CHF minimum rate is a case in distinguishing a policy commitment, a quotation convention and an executable price.

Reading method

What does the evidence establish?

Separate the record, an interpretation and a hypothetical example.

The economicbackdrop.