Although we have learned much about managing the financial backdrop to accelerating economic activity, it is essential that we not be deluded into believing that we have somehow discovered the Rosetta stone of monetary policy. A failure by policymakers to sufficiently appreciate the inevitable uncertainties that they confront could result in unfortunate consequences for the economy.
While we central bankers do not have full knowledge, we have continued to gain insight - albeit slowly - into how market economies function. That learning process has been aided, especially in the United States, by a vast panoply of data and information from both public and private sources.