I trust that we will go forward expeditiously with the pending new trade round. The differences to be resolved in such talks are small relative to the larger issue of maintaining our freedoms to travel and trade on a global scale. Globalization admittedly is an exceptionally abstract concept to convey to the general public.
In December 2013, the Committee announced that it would reduce the pace of purchases from $ billion to $ billion per month. In January, it announced a further reduction to $ billion. The FOMC is now on a path of measured reductions, which, if continued, will end the purchase program late this year.