Recent comments incorrectly attributed to President Mester

On July 12, 2016, Cleveland Fed President Loretta J. Mester answered questions from the media following a speech in Sydney, Australia. One of Mester’s comments about monetary policy tools was initially misquoted by Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) News and subsequently picked up by other news agencies. ABC’s subsequent correction of the story is available here. The pertinent exchange is below and the full audio transcript is available here (beginning at the 4:25 minute mark).

Q: “There’s been some talk in this world of low interest rates about the use of helicopter money. What are your views on the effectiveness of that?”

Mester: “We’re always assessing tools that we could use. I think in the U.S. we’ve done quantitative easing and I think that’s proven to be useful. So my view is that would be sort of the next step if we ever found ourselves in a situation where we wanted to be more accommodating.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that along with the Board of Governors in Washington DC comprise the Federal Reserve System. Part of the US central bank, the Cleveland Fed participates in the formulation of our nation’s monetary policy, supervises banking organizations, provides payment and other services to financial institutions and to the US Treasury, and performs many activities that support Federal Reserve operations System-wide. In addition, the Bank supports the well-being of communities across the Fourth Federal Reserve District through a wide array of research, outreach, and educational activities.

The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia.

Media contact

Doug Campbell, doug.campbell@clev.frb.org, 513.218.1892