23 A few policymakers believed that recent economic developments justified a more substantial move, but they were willing to accept the stronger forward-guidance language as a useful step.
However, a few other policymakers preferred to leave the statement unchanged, citing a variety of reasons, including that weakness in the real economy largely reflected nonmonetary factors; that the economic situation had improved since the Committee had undertaken its second large-scale asset purchase program in November 2010, and no additional monetary accommodation was appropriate; and that the reference to 2013 might be misinterpreted as suggesting that monetary policy was no longer contingent on how the economic outlook evolved.