Accordingly, it stated that "the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy's long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates."
Because long-term interest rates can remain low only in a stable macroeconomic environment, these goals are often referred to as the dual mandate – that is, the Federal Reserve seeks to promote the two coequal objectives of maximum employment and price stability. But although the main interests of the Federal Reserve are macroeconomic in nature, well-functioning financial markets are ancillary to good economic performance.