Given the potential consequences of the Russian default, the benefits of the unusual policy action were judged to outweigh its costs. Such a cost-benefit analysis is an ongoing part of monetary policy decisionmaking and causes us to tip more toward monetary ease when a contractionary event, such as the Russian default, seems especially likely or the costs associated with it seem especially high.
10  See minutes of the FOMC meeting of September 29, 1998. BIS Review 1/2004  5  The 1998 liquidity crisis and the crises associated with the stock market crash of 1987 and the terrorism of September 2001 prompted the type of massive ease that has been the historic mandate of a central bank.