Now, it’s fair to say, the economy is near maximum employment and inflation is moving toward our goal. The unemployment rate is less than 5 percent, roughly back to where it was before the recession. And, over the past seven years, the economy has added about 15–1/2 million net new jobs.
4  BIS Review 66/2001  In light of the overhang in some types of capital, some have wondered whether monetary policy might be less effective in combating the current economic weakness than otherwise. After all, conditions in short-term money markets, by themselves, are unlikely to induce substantial further investment, for example, in the long-haul fiber network.