Fed Opens Up to Policy Discussions
Federal Reserve officials plan to proceed with Chairman Ben Bernanke's plan to buy $600 billion in long-term U.S. Treasury bonds but are faced with finding a way to communicate with the public on that and other sensitive issues.

In light of some criticism of its actions, the central bank may embrace a more open dialogue of policy issues, both internally and externally.

The central bank is reviewing its communication practices and among the proposals is that Bernanke will speak publicly after each policy meeting to explain the Federal Open Market Committee's decisions.

"I think part of the challenge for the Fed is we're used to communicating with the markets because it's very important for us to make sure that we have the right impact on markets," Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said in a recent interview. "I'm not sure we're as gifted and talented at explaining for a broader set of Americans. Especially when you're doing something new, that kind of communication is very, very important."

Source: "Fed Labors to Get Its Message Out" Wall Street Journal (01/18/11)