The fundamental concepts of the economic pillar can be summarised as follows: first, the need to determine macroeconomic policies in line with the rules governing the participation in a monetary union that is based on price stability; and second, the need to set fiscal policies in line with the requirements as laid out in the Stability and Growth pact.
Staff models suggest that a portion of the upward revision in the federal funds futures curve over this period was associated with a pulling forward in the expected date of liftoff in the federal funds rate. 7  See Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (2013), “Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, September 17–18, 2013,” press release, October 9.