12 Other changes include the inclusion of roll call votes in the postmeeting statements in 2002; the release of the FOMC minutes three weeks after the meeting rather than following the subsequent meeting, beginning in 2005; the introduction of the Summary of Economic Projections in 2007 and the inclusion in 2012 of the “dot plot” showing FOMC participants’ federal funds rate projections; the Chair’s quarterly postmeeting press conferences in 2011; and the issuance in 2012 of the FOMC’s Statement on LongerRun Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy, which is reaffirmed every January.
13 This increased transparency has been a key complement to the Fed’s independence and accountability by regularly demonstrating that the Fed has been appropriately pursuing its mandated goals. Transparency can also make monetary policy more effective by helping to guide the public’s expectations and clarify the Committee’s policy intentions. 14 The Fed, like other central banks, does appropriately retain some matters for private discussions.