22 In particular, private-sector forecasters commonly use such rules to revise their expectations concerning the path of the federal funds rate in response to news that alters their views concerning the outlook for the economy. Now, however, the federal funds rate may well diverge for a number of years from the prescriptions of simple rules.
Moreover, the FOMC announced an open-ended asset purchase program in September, and there is no historical record for the public to use in forming expectations on how the FOMC is likely to use this tool.